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Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is a typical, often severe opportunistic infection. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was a common AIDS-defining condition, but due to better control of HIV infection with antiretroviral therapy and the relatively wide use of medications with immunosuppressive side effects, PCP now develops most often in HIV-uninfected patients. Risk factors for PCP in this new population have so far been poorly characterized, precluding the adequate use of preventive strategies. Some risk factors, however, can be derived from a case series of 56 HIV-uninfected adults with PCP treated at any of five university hospitals in France between 2004 and 2008.
The patients had a mean age of 64 (range, 23–82); 68% were male. Underlying…