PEDIATRICS Vol. 66 No. 1 July 1980, pp. 56-62
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow An erratum has been published
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stagno, S.
Right arrow Articles by Tiller, R. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Stagno, S.
Right arrow Articles by Tiller, R. E.

Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonitis in Young Immunocompetent Infants

Sergio Stagno MD1, Linda L. Pifer MD1, Walter T. Hughes MD1, Dana M. Brasfield MD1, and Ralph E. Tiller MD1

1 Departments of Pediatrics, The University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, The University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis, and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore

Of 67 infants enrolled in a prospective study of infant pneumonia ten (14%) had evidence of Pneumocystis carinii infection. Diagnosis was achieved by demonstrating circulating P carinii antigens by counterimmunoelectrophoresis in all ten cases and by histopathology in the only infant who underwent an open lung biopsy. Antigenemia did not occur in 64 control infants (P = .003), nor in 57 patients of similar age who were hospitalized with pneumonitis due to Chlamydia trachomatis, respiratory syncytial virus, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, and influenza A and influenza B viruses. None of the ten infants with P carinii pneumonitis had evidence of a primary immunodeficiency nor had any received immunosuppressive medication. These patients were hospitalized at a mean age of 6 weeks (range 2 to 12) and their illness was characterized by its afebrile course, presentation in crisis with severe respiratory distress, apnea, tachypnea, cough, increased IgM, and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates with hyperaeration. The clinical features of P carinii pneumonitis were indistinguishable from those of C trachomatis and cytomegalovirus pneumonia. Treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was associated with rapid disappearance of circulating antigens; however, the small number of patients studied did not permit an analysis of its clinical efficacy. These results indicate that P carinii singly or in combination with other infectious agents may be an important cause of pneumonitis in young, immunocompetent infants with no underlying illnesses.

Submitted on August 16, 1979
Accepted on October 1, 1979




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
A. F. Freeman, J. Davis, V. L. Anderson, W. Barson, D. N. Darnell, J. M. Puck, and S. M. Holland
Pneumocystis jiroveci Infection in Patients With Hyper-Immunoglobulin E Syndrome
Pediatrics, October 1, 2006; 118(4): e1271 - e1275.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child.Home page
J M Smart, A S Kemp, and D S Armstrong
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in an infant with transient hypogammaglobulinaemia of infancy
Arch. Dis. Child., November 1, 2002; 87(5): 449 - 450.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NEJMHome page
J. A. Boyce and E. J. Mark
Case 40-1999- A Four-Month-Old Girl with Chronic Cyanosis and Diffuse Pulmonary Infiltrates
N. Engl. J. Med., December 30, 1999; 341(27): 2075 - 2083.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BloodHome page
K. Seyama, S. Nonoyama, I. Gangsaas, D. Hollenbaugh, H. F. Pabst, A. Aruffo, and H. D. Ochs
Mutations of the CD40 Ligand Gene and Its Effect on CD40 Ligand Expression in Patients With X-Linked Hyper IgM Syndrome
Blood, October 1, 1998; 92(7): 2421 - 2434.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]