High Pneumocystis jirovecii colonization rate among haemodialysis patients.
Haemodialysis patients have been found to have an increased risk of developing Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) compared to the control population. To the best of our knowledge, no data are available on pulmonary colonization with Pneumocystis jirovecii in haemodialysis patients; therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of pulmonary colonization with P. jirovecii in haemodialysis patients, and to find the related risk factors. Induced sputa of 62 haemodialysis patients were investigated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction for the presence of P. jirovecii. 20.9% of the patients were colonized with P. jirovecii and 46.2% of whom had CD4 cell counts below 400/μl. There was no significant correlation between colonization and time on dialysis treatment. As haemodialysis patients seem to be at higher risk of PcP than the general population, doctors should be aware of the high rate of P. jirovecii colonization amongst them. Furthermore, colonized patients remain a potential source of transmission of P. jirovecii to other patients or to health care workers.
a Department of Medicine, Division of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases , University of Rostock Medical School , Rostock , Germany.
Carlos
C
Fritzsche
a Department of Medicine, Division of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases , University of Rostock Medical School , Rostock , Germany.
Hosam
H
Ghanem
b Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology , University of Rostock Medical School , Rostock , Germany.
Sebastian
S
Koball
c Medical Faculty , Institute for Immunology, University of Rostock Medical School , Rostock , Germany.
Brigitte
B
Mueller-Hilke
a Department of Medicine, Division of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases , University of Rostock Medical School , Rostock , Germany.
Emil C
EC
Reisinger
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D045363:Pneumocystis carinii / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult
Pneumocystis jirovecii; haemodialysis; pulmonary colonization