{"id":4604,"date":"2021-12-16T15:38:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T02:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/?page_id=4604"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:20:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T02:20:55","slug":"pneumocystis-jirovecii-pneumonia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/pneumocystis-jirovecii-pneumonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Infection:<\/strong> <em>Pneumocystis<\/em> <em>jirovecii<\/em> pneumonia (PJP), previously <em>Pneumocystis<\/em> <em>carinii<\/em> (PCP)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\"><strong>Brief description:<\/strong><\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fungal infection that can affect the lungs of immunocompromised people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Higher doses of corticosteroids or other defects in cell-mediated immunity are the main risk factors e.g. advanced HIV (AIDS), haematological cancers, chemotherapy, organ transplantation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A hallmark feature is hypoxia, which may initially only be present with exertion e.g. walking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\"><strong>Did you know?<\/strong><\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>PJP usually presents with fever, cough and breathlessness that is relatively gradual in onset.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Asymptomatic colonisation with <em>P.jirovecii<\/em> is relatively common, this affects test interpretation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\"><strong>Who should I test?<\/strong><\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>Test for PJP in people with immunocompromise who present with evidence of respiratory tract infection, especially if treatment for more common pathogens has failed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the patient is <strong>not hypoxic<\/strong> at rest or on walking\/exertion then PJP is <strong>most unlikely<\/strong>, and other diagnoses should be considered in the first instance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\"><strong>Test of choice:<\/strong><\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p>Request<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/scg.labapps.nz\/#\/WEL\/details\/27315\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pneumocystis PCR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PCR <\/strong>of<strong> sputum\/bronchial washings\/other lower respiratory tract sample<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Excellent<strong> sensitivity:<\/strong> a negative result makes the diagnosis<strong> very unlikely<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Moderate<strong> specificity: <\/strong>colonisation is relatively common, so detection <strong>does not always equate to disease<\/strong>, especially if detected at low levels.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\"><strong>Tests to avoid\/specialist tests:<\/strong><\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Immunofluorescence\/microscopy<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>This has previously been the test of choice, however currently available methods have poor sensitivity or other methodological issues, so PCR is favoured.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\"><strong>Other considerations:<\/strong><\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>In our laboratory PJP is also included in the <strong>\u2018respiratory multiplex PCR\u2019<\/strong>, which is usually performed on a <strong>nasopharyngeal swab<\/strong> (NPS) targeting viral pathogens.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The clinical significance of detecting PJP on an upper respiratory tract sample is not entirely clear, however there is evidence to suggest that it is<strong> predictive of detection in concurrently collected lower respiratory tract samples<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In patients with <strong>risk factors<\/strong> and a <strong>clinically compatible illness<\/strong> it should therefore usually prompt consideration of further imaging and\/or treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Infection: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP), previously Pneumocystis carinii (PCP)","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":4222,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-left-sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/pneumocystis-jirovecii-pneumonia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Infection: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia 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