Author Interviews, Dermatology, Infections / 02.09.2017
Low Risk of Pneumocystis Pneumonia in Autoimmune Blistering Diseases
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Kyle T. Amber, MD
Department of Dermatology
UC Irvine Health
Irvine, CA 92697
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Patients with autoimmune blistering diseases often requires significant immunosuppression in order to control their diseases. Pneumocystis pneumonia is an opportunistic infection that occurs in immunocompromised patients. This study was borne out of my observation that most European experts in the treatment of autoimmune blistering disease did not give routine prophylaxis for pneumocystis. Among American dermatologists, there was far more disagreement. This was a collaborative effort of several international tertiary care centers. We demonstrated that the incidence of pneumocystis in 801 patients with autoimmune blistering disease was only 0.1%, which fell well below previous recommendations in the literature suggesting an incidence of 3.5% in order to justify prophylaxis.
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