Pneumocystosis pneumonia: A comparison study between HIV and non-HIV immunocompromised patients

Abstract Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is caused by the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii , and its incidence has been on the rise in immunosuppressed patients without HIV. We performed a cross sectional study in patients with PCP and assessed demographic, clinical presentation and outcome measures such as mechanical ventilation and mortality differences between HIV and non-HIV patients. The two groups were statistically significantly different, with the HIV group being younger (45.5 years vs 55.9 years, p -value 0.001) and mostly composed of male patients (69% vs 31%, p -value p -value 0.02) and lactate dehydrogenase elevation (73% vs 40%, p -value 0.001). In contrast, non-HIV patients had worse outcomes with higher incidence of invasive mechanical ventilation (23% vs 46%, p -value 0.005) and in-hospital mortality (13% vs 37%, p -value 0.002). These results reflect the literature and should raise awareness to a potentially fatal medical situation of increasing incidence.