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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,...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2020
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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. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7345889 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
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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