Pneumocystis jiroveci, sometimes called by its former name Pneumocystis carinii, is a fungus (earlier classified as a protozoa) that causes pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP). It affects those with weakened immune systems such as children and the elderly, but is especially common in patients with AIDS. Jiroveci is pronounced "yee row vet zee".
Pneumocystis infection is diagnosed by silver staining of the sputum.
In immunocompromised patients (e.g. those on chemotherapy or AIDS with a low CD4+ count; below 200/mm³), prophylaxis with regular pentamidine inhalations or sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (co-trimoxazole or TMP-SMX) may be necessary.
It is distributed worldwide.
Pneumocystis jiroveci cysts from bronchoalveolar lavage, stained with Giemsa stain
Nomenclature
The name P. jiroveci, to distinguish the organism found in humans from variants of Pneumocystis found in other animals, was first proposed in 1976, in honor of Otto Jirovec, who described Pneumocystis pneumonia in humans in 1952. After DNA analysis showed significant differences in the human variant, the proposal was made again in 1999 and has come into common use; P. carinii still describes the species found in rats, while P. murina describes that found in mice. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature would normally require the name to be spelled jirovecii rather than jiroveci; both spellings are currently in use.
Reference
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumocystis_jiroveci under GFDL
