Pneumocystis carinii Serologic Study in Pediatric Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Abstract

Pneumocystis carinii antigen and IgG antibody profiles were prepared on 17 pediatric patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with pneumonia who were examined by a variety of invasive methods for P carinii organisms. Overall, the accuracy of the antigen assay in invasively examined pediatric patients with AIDS with pneumonia was 94% (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 90%), as antigen and invasive test results agreed in 16 of 17 patients. No statistically significant differences in IgG titer were observed between controls and patients invasively examined for P carinii, whether the organism was observed in the specimen or not. Since 38% of all serum samples referred were derived from "blood-borne" cases of AIDS, including patients who contracted AIDS as a result of both transfusion and hemophilia A, this suggests that P carinii pneumonia or P carinii pneumonia- like pneumonias may be more common in these individuals.