Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia in Infants Who Were Exposed to Human Immunodeficiency Virus But Were Not Infected: An Exception to the AIDS Surveillance Case Definition

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 739 - 740
• Main Authors: Heresi, Gloria P., Caceres, Enrique, Atkins, Jane T., Reuben, James, Doyle, Marilyn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.09.1997; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adult; AIDS; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - complications; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - immunology; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Reports; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Children; Female; HIV; HIV infections; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - diagnosis; HIV Infections - transmission; Humans; Immunocompetence; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Medical sciences; Pediatrics; Pneumocystis pneumonia; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - complications; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - immunology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; Surveillance; T lymphocytes; Human; Immunopathology; Lung disease; Protozoa; Pneumonia; Respiratory disease; Definition; Infant; Pneumocystis carinii; AIDS; Parasitosis; Immune deficiency; Infection; Case study; Surveillance; Criterion; Viral disease; Sporozoa
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/516938

The 1994 revised classification system for HIV infection in children <18 months of age includes the criterion that an episode of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in an infant who is perinatally exposed to HIV establishes the diagnosis of AIDS. We present two cases of severe PCP in infants who were perinatally exposed to HIV but who were uninfected with HIV. These cases demonstrate that there are exceptions to the AIDS surveillance case definition and that the case definition may need revision.