"THE RISK FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF PNEUMOCYSTIS PNEUMONIA: NARRATIVE REVIEW"

Abstract

"Introduction: Pneumocystis jirovecii is a fungal pathogen that causes a serious infection called Pneumocystis pneumonia - abbreviated PCP - in people with an immunosuppression condition (e.g.: HIV infection, cancer, organ transplant, inflammatory or autoimmune diseases, treatment with immunosuppressants like corticosteroids), with a high mortality rate. Methods: We searched the PubMed database for publications describing risk factors responsible for the occurrence of Pneumocystis pneumonia, without restrictions of country or English language. The following search terms were used: ((""Pneumocystis""[Mesh]) AND ""Pneumonia, Pneumocystis""[Mesh]) AND ""Risk Factors""[Mesh], for a period of six years, between 2017 and 2022. Data on the type of study and clinical characteristics of the infection caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii in immunodepressed and immunocompetent patients have been extracted. We identified 41 articles, of which 11 have been considered as relevant and are the basis of the present analysis according to our inclusion criteria. Conclusions: The review of the literature to this end shows that patients who have been exposed to the risk factors such as: advanced age with a preponderance in men, nosocomial transmission via human contamination, those with an immunocompromised immune system due to the deficiency of Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) expression and end-stage renal disease disease (ESRD) who do CCRTx, concurrent chemoradiotherapy or RTx, radiotherapy and are treated with immunosuppressive drugs such as: prednisolone (PSL), calcineurin inhibitor, tumor necrosis factor anti-TNF-α, thioprine, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and rituximab there is suspicion to developing Pneumocystis pneumonia, should be carefully diagnosed and managed through an appropriate early prophylaxis. In conclusion, in our opinion more deep studies are necessary in this regard."