Pneumocystis jirovecii in the air surrounding patients with Pneumocystis pulmonary colonization.

Solène Le Gal (1, 2) , Laurence Pougnet (3) , Céline Damiani (4, 5) , Emilie Fréalle (6) , Paul Guéguen (7, 8) , Michèle Virmaux (1) , Séverine Ansart (9, 10) , Sylvain Jaffuel (10) , Francis Couturaud (11, 12) , Aurélien Delluc (12, 11) , Jean-Marie Tonnelier (13) , Philippe Castellant (14) , Yann Le Meur (15) , Gaëtan Le Floch (16) , Anne Totet (17) , Jean Menotti , Gilles Nevez (1, 2)

1 LUBEM - Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Microbienne
2 Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Mycologiede [CHRU Brest]
3 Hôpital d'Instruction des Armées Clermont Tonnerre
4 PERITOX - Périnatalité et Risques Toxiques - UMR INERIS_I 1
5 Laboratoire de parasitologie et de mycologie médicales [CHU Amiens]
6 Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie [CHRU LIlle]
7 GGB - Génétique, génomique fonctionnelle et biotechnologies (UMR 1078)
8 Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire et d'Histocompatibilité [Brest]
9 LaTIM - Laboratoire de Traitement de l'Information Medicale
10 Service de médecine interne 2 et maladies infectieuses
11 DMIP - Brest - Département de Médecine Interne et Pneumologie [Brest]
12 GETBO - Groupe d'Etude de la Thrombose de Bretagne Occidentale
13 BREST - Réa Med - Service de Réanimation Médicale
14 ORPHY (EA 4324) - Optimisation des régulations physiologiques
15 EA2216 - Immunologie et Pathologie
16 IDPSP - Institut du droit public et de la science politique
17 Departments of Medical Parasitology and Mycology

In this study, Pneumocystis jirovecii was detected and characterized in the air surrounding patients with Pneumocystis pulmonary colonization. Air samples were collected in the rooms of 10 colonized patients using Coriolis® μ air sampler at 1m and 5m from the patient's head. P. jirovecii DNA was amplified and genotyped in pulmonary and air samples at the mitochondrial large subunit ribosomal RNA gene. P. jirovecii DNA was detected in 5 of the 10 air samples collected at 1m and in 5 of the 10 other air samples collected at 5m. P. jirovecii genotyping was successful in 4 pairs or triplets of air and pulmonary samples. Full genotype matches were observed in 3 of the 4 pairs or triplets of air and pulmonary samples. These results provide original data supporting P. jirovecii exhalation from colonized patients and emphasize the risk of P. jirovecii nosocomial transmission from this patient population.

Mots clés: Pneumocystis jirovecii; colonization; airborne transmission; exhalation

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Médecine humaine et pathologie

Solène Le Gal, Laurence Pougnet, Céline Damiani, Emilie Fréalle, Paul Guéguen, et al.. Pneumocystis jirovecii in the air surrounding patients with Pneumocystis pulmonary colonization.. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, 2015, 82 (2), pp.137-42. ⟨10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2015.01.004⟩. ⟨hal-01275093⟩