Dermatologists should have a "high index of suspicion" for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in patients taking immunosuppressants for the treatment of dermatological disorders, doctors from the US warn.
Dr S. P. Raychaudhuri and Dr S. Siu (department of medicine, Kaiser Permanente, California) cite four cases in which patients taking a number of immunosuppressants, primarily for skin diseases, developed PCP. Three of the four patients died as a result of the infection.
The authors note that PCP has been reported in patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs for other inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis, but that there is limited literature regarding its occurrence in dermatology patients.
They recommend that therapeutic and prophylactic strategies for PCP be put in place, based on those already in existence for patients with HIV.