Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2001, p. 3877-3882, Vol. 39, No. 11
Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases,
Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences, Royal Free and University
College Medical School, University College London,
London,1 and Molecular Infectious
Diseases Group, Department of Paediatrics, Weatherall Institute of
Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford,
Oxford,2 United Kingdom
Received 25 June 2001/Returned for modification 30 July
2001/Accepted 12 August 2001
The possible transmission of Pneumocystis carinii f.
sp. hominis from patients with P. carinii
pneumonia to asymptomatic health care workers (HCW), with or without
occupational exposure to human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV)-infected patients with P. carinii pneumonia, was
examined. HCW in a specialist inpatient HIV-AIDS facility and a
control group in the general medical-respiratory service in the same
hospital provided induced sputum and/or nasal rinse samples, which were
analyzed for the presence of P. carinii f. sp.
hominis DNA by using DNA amplification (at the gene
encoding the mitochondrial large subunit rRNA [mt LSU rRNA]).
P. carinii f. sp. hominis DNA was
detected in some HCW samples; those with the closest occupational
contact were more likely to have detectable P.
carinii DNA. P. carinii DNA was detected in one
HCW who carried out bronchoscopy over a 2-year period. P.
carinii-positive samples were genotyped by using DNA sequence
variations at the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the
nuclear rRNA operon, along with bronchoalveolar lavage samples from
patients with P. carinii pneumonia hospitalized at the
same time. Genotyping identified 31 different P. carinii
f. sp. hominis ITS genotypes, 26 of which were found in
the patient samples. Five of the eight ITS genotypes detected in HCW
samples were not observed in the patient samples. The results suggested
that HCW in close occupational contact with patients who had P.
carinii pneumonia may have become colonized with P.
carinii. Carriage was asymptomatic and did not result in the
development of clinical disease.
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.11.3877-3882.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Pneumocystis carinii f. sp. hominis
DNA in Immunocompetent Health Care Workers in Contact with Patients
with P. carinii Pneumonia
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Molecular
Infectious Diseases Group, Department of Paediatrics, Weatherall
Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3
9DS, United Kingdom. Phone: 44-1865-222344. Fax: 44-1865-222626. E-mail: wakefiel{at}molbiol.ox.ac.uk.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»