| Symptoms
& History
Physical
Findings
Stop
& Think
Lab
and X-Ray
Differential
Diagnosis
The
Disease
Treatment
Conclusions
Quiz
& Evaluation
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Pneumocystis carinii
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Pneumocystis carinii
is a ubiquitous organism that produces no illness in immune competent individuals.
It can, however, result in a life threatening pneumonia in those who are
immune suppressed.
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AIDS patients
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People undergoing certain types
of cancer chemotherapy.
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Children with severe protein-calorie
malnutrition.
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Certain inherited immune deficiency
syndromes
Pneumocystis carinii
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Long considered a protozoan,
P.
carinii is now being reclassified as a fungus because of the composition
of its cell wall.
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When inhaled, the organism attaches
to the type 1 alveolar cells and proceeds to multiply within the alveolar
space.
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In AIDS patients, P. carinii
pneumonia is likely when the circulating CD4+ helper T lymphocyte count
falls below 200 cells per cubic milliliter.
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Although the host will develop
antibodies to the organism, the antibodies appear to play no role in host
resistance.
As regards Mr. Baldwin,
HIV
testing is certainly the next move. Explaining this could be difficult,
although I suspect he has been thinking along these lines himself. |
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