[Transmission of Pneumocystis infection in humans]

Abstract

Is Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) a transmissible fungal disease? Does nosocomial PcP occur? Is there Pneumocystis transmission in the community? These questions, which could not be tackled before the 2000s, may at present be approached using either noninvasive detection methods or experimental transmission models. Represented by a unique entity (P. carinii) for almost one century, the Pneumocystis genus was shown to contain several species, being P. jirovecii the sole species identified in humans hitherto. Molecular methods combined with cross infection experiments revealed strong host specificity that precludes Pneumocystis inter-species transmission. In contrast, respiratory transmission between mammals of a same species is usually highly active, even between immunocompetent hosts. Other transmission ways could also exist. New data show that human being is the unique P. jirovecii reservoir; it would constitute the sole infection source in both hospital and community.