Pneumocystis carinii serologic study in pediatric acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
L. L. Pifer, D. R. Woods, C. C. Edwards, R. E. Joyner, F. J. Anderson and K. Arheart
Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38163.
Pneumocystis carinii antigen and IgG antibody profiles were prepared on 17
pediatric patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with
pneumonia who were examined by a variety of invasive methods for P carinii
organisms. Overall, the accuracy of the antigen assay in invasively
examined pediatric patients with AIDS with pneumonia was 94% (sensitivity,
100%; specificity, 90%), as antigen and invasive test results agreed in 16
of 17 patients. No statistically significant differences in IgG titer were
observed between controls and patients invasively examined for P carinii,
whether the organism was observed in the specimen or not. Since 38% of all
serum samples referred were derived from "blood-borne" cases of AIDS,
including patients who contracted AIDS as a result of both transfusion and
hemophilia A, this suggests that P carinii pneumonia or P carinii
pneumonia- like pneumonias may be more common in these individuals.
