Cryptococcosis is an invasive fungal infection caused by an encapsulated yeast. Cryptococcosis in humans is almost always caused by Cryptococcus neoformans. The advent of the HIV epidemic has lead to a profound increase in the number of reported cases of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis throughout the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In Zimbabwe an analysis of the case reports at one of the major tertiary care hospitals showed an increase in the admission rate from meningitis between 1985-1995 from 78 to 523 cases per 100000 admissions with an increase in the number of those cases due to cryptococcosis from 5% to 46.2%.