title: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in Latin America. A public health problem?
abstract: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PcP) is a well-recognized major opportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients. During the 1980s, the HIV pandemic turned PcP into a major worldwide medical and public health problem. With the introduction of Pneumocystis chemoprophylaxis and the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the treatment of HIV infection, there has been a decrease in PcP incidence in developed countries. However, the prevalence of AIDS-related PcP in developing countries remains high because a lot of people do not have access to ART or ignore their HIV infection status. This article discusses the information available about PcP among Latin American countries where there is a great regional heterogeneity in the prevalence of HIV infection and in ART coverage, as well as in the observed frequencies of PcP that range from 5.9 to 55% in this area.
authors.affiliation: CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública and Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain. sandube@cica.es
authors.forename: Enrique J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Calderón
authors.forename: Yaxsier
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: de Armas
authors.forename: Maria Mercedes
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Panizo
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wissmann
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D060085:Coinfection; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D045363:Pneumocystis carinii / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health; D015662:Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D015662:Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination