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Changing Trends in the Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Pneumocystis Pneumonia in Spain

Authors

Pereira-Diaz, Estefania , Moreno-Verdejo, Fidel , DE LA HORRA PADILLA, CARMEN, Guerrero, Jose A. , Calderon, Enrique J. , Medrano, Francisco J.

External publication

Si

Means

Front. Public Health

Scope

Article

Nature

Científica

JCR Quartile

SJR Quartile

JCR Impact

1.034

SJR Impact

0.672

Publication date

04/10/2019

ISI

000496836900002

Abstract

Objective: The information about the epidemiology of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) in Europe is scarce, and in Spain there are only data nationwide on patients with HIV infection. This study has been carried out with the aim of knowing in our country the current epidemiological spectrum and the risk factors of PcP. Methods: Observational, descriptive transversal study that included all patients admitted in Spain with diagnosis upon discharge of PcP registered in the National Health System's Hospital Discharge Records Database of Spain, between 2008 and 2012. Results: Four thousand five hundred and fifty four cases of PcP were reported, 1,204 (26.4%) in HIV-negative patients. During the study period, mean annual incidence (cases per million) was 19.4, remaining globally stable, increasing from 4.4 to 6.3 in HIV-negative patients and decreasing from 15.5 to 13.4 among HIV-infected patients. Risk factors were identified in 85.5% of HIV-negative cases, the most frequent being hematological neoplams (29%), chronic lung diseases (15.9%), and non-hematological cancers (14.9%). Mean mortality and hospitalization cost were high (25.5% and 12,000 euros, respectively). Conclusions: The results of this first nationwide study in Spain allow a change in the misconception that, after the AIDS epidemic, PcP is an infrequent disease, showing that today it is an emerging problem in patients without HIV infection. These findings underlines the need for increased efforts toward a better characterization of risk groups to improve prophylactic strategies and reduce the burden of disease.

Keywords

pneumonia; Pneumocystis; epidemiology; HIV infections; Spain