Airborne spread ofPneumocystis jirovecii

  • Winslow, Dean L. MD, FACP, FIDSA

  • Chief, Division of AIDS Medicine, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center; Clinical Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine

    Dr. Winslow is on the speaker's bureau for GSK and Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and is a consultant for Siemens Diagnostics.

Infectious Disease Alert 29(12):p 138, September 2010.

Synopsis:

Nineteen patients admitted to the hospital with Pneumocystis pneumonia had air sampling performed at distances from 1 m to 8 m from patients' heads; additional samples from patient wards and outdoors were obtained. Using real-time PCR at 1 m distance, P. jirovecii DNA was detected in 15 (79.8%). Copy number decreased with distance from the patient, but four of 12 samples (33.3%) taken at 8 m (in the corridor) were positive.

Source:

Choukri F, et al. Quantification and spread of Pneumocystis jirovecii in the surrounding air of patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia. Clin Infect Dis. 2010;51:259–265.

Copyright © 2010 AHC Media LLC.
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