Cryptococcus: a few q's: how hard is it to be diagnoses with this fungus? would all blood tests be positive, or could a false positive be likely?

Cryptococcus: The usual species is C. neoformans. Encapsulated strains are diagnosed by detection of cryptococcal antigen in CSF, sputum and urine. Blood cultures may be positive. India ink of the CSF is a microscopic method of diagnosis. Diagnosis may be more difficult if infected with C. gatti or a non-encapsulated strain but this is very uncommon. False negative results are also rare.