Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast that can live in both plants and animals. Its teleomorph is Filobasidiella neoformans, a filamentous fungus belonging to the class Tremellomycetes. It is often found in pigeon excrement.
Has been reported in only nine cases of shunt infection.
see Cryptococcus neoformans ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection
The timing from shunt placement to symptom onset varies widely from 10 days to 15 months. Viereck et al., present a patient who developed a cryptococcal infection of his VP shunt more than two decades following shunt placement 1).