Cryptococcus neoformans as a rare cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome in a healthy 24-year-old

Symptomatic pulmonary cryptococcus is rare in healthy patients and uncommon even in immunocompromised patients. We describe a case of pulmonary cryptococcus that caused acute respiratory distress syndrome in a healthy host. Distinctively, this case is a rare description of significant respiratory failure from isolated pulmonary Cryptococcus neoformans with the exclusion of Cryptococcus gattii and review of the literature.