Pneumocystis pneumonia is an infection which is caused by a microscopic fungus called pneumocystis jiroveci and this fungus lives within the lungs of many individuals. Such an infection does not cause any symptoms among healthy people but it can result in pneumonia among individuals who have medical problems like cancer, AIDS and other medical conditions that tend to affect the immunity in the body.

The pneumocystis jiroveci fungus is found in abundance within the environment and healthy people have the essential antibodies to help fight the organism when it enters the body. However with those having a compromised immune system the antibody response to pneumocystis jiroveci tends to fade and this makes the individuals susceptible to developing pneumocystis pneumonia.

Pneumocystis pneumonia was observed in 80% of individuals having HIV and was fatal. In present time drugs used for treatment of this condition have helped reduce the rates and now these drugs are recommended for those suffering from HIV particularly when their CD4 cell count drops below 200.

The symptoms associated with pneumocystis pneumonia include fever accompanied with dry cough that does not produce phlegm or sputum. Some other symptoms in this condition include difficulty in breathing along with chest tightness, fatigue and night sweats. In infants this condition can develop in infants who are sick or weak and initially the child may breathe rapidly and the skin, lips and fingernails of the child may turn gray or blue.

Diagnosis of pneumocystis pneumonia can be done through X-ray and by detecting the organisms responsible for this condition within the lung fluids or the lung tissue. The tissue sample from the lungs is taken through a procedure called bronchoscopy. X-rays are effective in detecting collection of fluid within the lungs but these cannot differentiate between infections like tuberculosis and penumocystis pneumonia.

Antibiotics are prescribed alone or in combination for treatment of pneumocystis pneumonia. The treatment of this condition requires two drugs which include sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. These drugs are required to be taken in low dosages currently as compared to the doses which are quite high in the earlier periods. These drugs may be administered either by mouth through pills or in intravenous form.

Those having moderate to severe pneumocystis pneumonia also need to take cortecosteroids like prednisone in 72 hours after starting the treatment with sulfamethoxazole. This medication needs to be taken for a period of around three weeks every day. Once the infection is cleared the patients can lower the dose to once a day or around three times every week so as to prevent the infection from returning.

Around 25 to 50% of the HIV positive individuals are unfortunately allergic to sulphur contained in sulfamethoxazole. Allergic reactions to this medication include fever along with rash. Some other treatment programs can be prescribed for those individuals who cannot tolerate sulfamethoxazole. These other drugs include pentamidine, trimethoprim (TMP)-dapsone, Trimetrexate-leucovorin, Prednisone and aerosolized pentamidine (NebuPent). Infants of HIV infected women should be treated for pneumocystis pneumonia infection from around 1 month. The treatment should be continued till the time it is known whether they have HIV or not.