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Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration

Pneumocystis jirovecii can cause fatal Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP). Many children have been exposed to the fungus and are colonized in early age, while some individuals at high risk for fungal infections may develop PcP, a disease that is difficult to diagnose. Insufficient laboratory availability,...

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Autores principales: Arsić Arsenijevic, Valentina, Vyzantiadis, Timoleon-Achilleas, Mares, Mihai, Otasevic, Suzana, Tragiannidis, Athanasios, Janic, Dragana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7345889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32316676
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jof6020049
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author Arsić Arsenijevic, Valentina
Vyzantiadis, Timoleon-Achilleas
Mares, Mihai
Otasevic, Suzana
Tragiannidis, Athanasios
Janic, Dragana
author_facet Arsić Arsenijevic, Valentina
Vyzantiadis, Timoleon-Achilleas
Mares, Mihai
Otasevic, Suzana
Tragiannidis, Athanasios
Janic, Dragana
author_sort Arsić Arsenijevic, Valentina
collection PubMed
description Pneumocystis jirovecii can cause fatal Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP). Many children have been exposed to the fungus and are colonized in early age, while some individuals at high risk for fungal infections may develop PcP, a disease that is difficult to diagnose. Insufficient laboratory availability, lack of knowledge, and local epidemiology gaps make the problem more serious. Traditionally, the diagnosis is based on microscopic visualization of Pneumocystis in respiratory specimens. The molecular diagnosis is important but not widely used. The aim of this study was to collect initial indicative data from Serbia, Greece, and Romania concerning pediatric patients with suspected PcP in order to: find the key underlying diseases, determine current clinical and laboratory practices, and try to propose an integrative future molecular perspective based on regional collaboration. Data were collected by the search of literature and the use of an online questionnaire, filled by relevant scientists specialized in the field. All three countries presented similar clinical practices in terms of PcP prophylaxis and clinical suspicion. In Serbia and Greece the hematology/oncology diseases are the main risks, while in Romania HIV infection is an additional risk. Molecular diagnosis is available only in Greece. PcP seems to be under-diagnosed and regional collaboration in the field of laboratory diagnosis with an emphasis on molecular approaches may help to cover the gaps and improve the practices.
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spelling pubmed-73458892020-07-09 Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration Arsić Arsenijevic, Valentina Vyzantiadis, Timoleon-Achilleas Mares, Mihai Otasevic, Suzana Tragiannidis, Athanasios Janic, Dragana J Fungi (Basel) Article Pneumocystis jirovecii can cause fatal Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP). Many children have been exposed to the fungus and are colonized in early age, while some individuals at high risk for fungal infections may develop PcP, a disease that is difficult to diagnose. Insufficient laboratory availability, lack of knowledge, and local epidemiology gaps make the problem more serious. Traditionally, the diagnosis is based on microscopic visualization of Pneumocystis in respiratory specimens. The molecular diagnosis is important but not widely used. The aim of this study was to collect initial indicative data from Serbia, Greece, and Romania concerning pediatric patients with suspected PcP in order to: find the key underlying diseases, determine current clinical and laboratory practices, and try to propose an integrative future molecular perspective based on regional collaboration. Data were collected by the search of literature and the use of an online questionnaire, filled by relevant scientists specialized in the field. All three countries presented similar clinical practices in terms of PcP prophylaxis and clinical suspicion. In Serbia and Greece the hematology/oncology diseases are the main risks, while in Romania HIV infection is an additional risk. Molecular diagnosis is available only in Greece. PcP seems to be under-diagnosed and regional collaboration in the field of laboratory diagnosis with an emphasis on molecular approaches may help to cover the gaps and improve the practices. MDPI 2020-04-17 /pmc/articles/PMC7345889/ /pubmed/32316676 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jof6020049 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Arsić Arsenijevic, Valentina
Vyzantiadis, Timoleon-Achilleas
Mares, Mihai
Otasevic, Suzana
Tragiannidis, Athanasios
Janic, Dragana
Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration
title Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration
title_full Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration
title_fullStr Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration
title_full_unstemmed Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration
title_short Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients in Serbia, Greece, and Romania. Current Status and Challenges for Collaboration
title_sort diagnosis of pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in pediatric patients in serbia, greece, and romania. current status and challenges for collaboration
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7345889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32316676
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jof6020049
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