Trial Information

To Develop a New Technique to Predict the Occurrence of Pneumocystis Pneumonia, Track Its Epidemiology, Diagnose Acute Disease, and Predict and Monitor the Response to Various Therapeutic Agents

This study is designed to collect respiratory secretion specimens to assess new techniques
to diagnose pneumocystis infection and disease. The diagnosis of pneumocystis pneumonia has
traditionally relied on demonstration of organisms by direct microscopy in either a sample
of sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage or lung tissue. Obtaining adequate sputum has required
expertise that not all institutions have. Bronchoalveolar lavage and lung biopsy share the
disadvantage of being invasive and cause patient discomfort and expense. Nucleic acid
amplification technology offers the potential to detect pneumocystis in easily obtained
specimens, such as oral washes or nasal samples, to detect genes associated with drug
resistance, and to assess strain variation. The goals of this project are to develop a
nucleic acid amplification technique that could provide an easier method to diagnose acute
disease and to detect drug resistant strains. This study will also contribute information
about the epidemiology of pneumocystis by assessing normal volunteers who are exposed to
pneumocystis, e.g. health professionals, and looking at strain variation among isolates from
patients and, if positives are found, from healthy volunteers. This study will develop
techniques that can be the basis of definitive studies on diagnosis, epidemiology, and
transmission of pneumocystis.