Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia
Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia is a fungal infection of the lungs. The disease used to be called Pneumocystis carini or PCP pneumonia.
This type of pneumonia is caused by the fungus Pneumocystis jiroveci. This fungus is common in the environment and rarely causes illness in healthy people.
However, it can cause a lung infection in people with a weakened immune system due to:
- Cancer
- Long-term use of corticosteroids or other medicines that weaken the immune system
- HIV/AIDS
- Organ or bone marrow transplant
Pneumocystis jiroveci was a rare infection before the AIDS epidemic. Before the use of preventive antibiotics for the condition, most people in the United States with advanced AIDS often developed this infection.
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