title: Low prevalence of Pneumocystis jirovecii lung colonization in Ugandan HIV-infected patients hospitalized with non-Pneumocystis pneumonia.
abstract: Pneumocystis jirovecii is an important opportunistic infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. In the developed world, P. jirovecii epidemiology is marked by frequent colonization in immunosuppressed patients, but data on the prevalence of colonization are very limited in sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of persons living with HIV reside. Our objective was to describe the epidemiology of P. jirovecii colonization among HIV-positive patients in a cross-sectional, hospital-based study of patients admitted with suspected pneumonia in Kampala, Uganda. P. jirovecii was detectable in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 7 (6%) of 124 consecutive patients with non-Pneumocystis pneumonia. Colonization was not associated with patient demographic or clinical information. This prevalence is substantially lower than in published studies in the developed world and suggests that there is a limited reservoir of organisms for clinical infections in this Ugandan population. These findings may partially explain the low incidence of Pneumocystis pneumonia in Uganda and other sub-Saharan African countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. taylo115@email.unc.edu
authors.forename: Steve M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Meshnick
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Worodria
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andama
authors.forename: J Lucian
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Adithya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cattamanchi
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: den Boon
authors.forename: Samuel D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Carol D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016720:Pneumocystis Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D045363:Pneumocystis carinii / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology