Epidemiology of histoplasmosis in the French West Indies (Martinique).

The Caribbean islands are presumed to be an endemic zone for Histoplasma capsulatum infection, but no epidemiological studies have been done in this area. Our purpose was to report the epidemiology of histoplasmosis from 1991 to 1997 in the French West Indies (Martinique). Cases identified from the register of the mycology laboratory were analysed retrospectively. Ten cases (9 male and 1 female) were identified; 8 of the patients were infected with HIV (average T4 lymphocyte count in these 8 patients was 32/mm3). Eight patients had cutaneous involvement. The incidence in AIDS patients was 1.7%. The annual incidence in the general population was 0.34/100,000. Our data showed that histoplasmosis is endemic in Martinique, with an incidence in AIDS patients slightly inferior to that in endemic areas of the USA. The high rate of cutaneous forms (80%) is uncommon.