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Humans Are Selectively Exposed to Pneumocystis jirovecii

Ousmane H Cissé1, Liang Ma2, Chao Jiang3

  • 1Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA ousmane.cisse@nih.gov jkovacs@nih.gov.

Mbio
|March 12, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Humans are selectively exposed to airborne Pneumocystis jirovecii, suggesting local transmission. Healthy carriers are identified as key drivers for Pneumocystis transmission.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental health
  • Mycology
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Airborne fungal spores significantly impact human health, with some causing severe infections.
  • The environmental dispersal and transmission dynamics of fungi, particularly Pneumocystis, are not well understood.
  • Pneumocystis jirovecii causes life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals, but its environmental origins and transmission pathways remain elusive.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate human exposure to airborne Pneumocystis species using metagenomic data.
  • To determine if humans are exposed to various Pneumocystis species or selectively to Pneumocystis jirovecii.
  • To elucidate the transmission routes and environmental reservoir of Pneumocystis jirovecii.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of human exposome metagenomic datasets.
  • Shotgun metagenomics to identify airborne fungal DNA.
  • Comparative analysis of Pneumocystis species distribution in environmental and human samples.

Main Results:

  • Human exposure is selective for Pneumocystis jirovecii, not a broad exposure to multiple species.
  • The findings support a local transmission model for Pneumocystis.
  • Data indicate that healthy carriers play a significant role in Pneumocystis transmission.

Conclusions:

  • Humans are primarily exposed to airborne Pneumocystis jirovecii, implying specific environmental or host factors.
  • Local transmission dynamics are key for Pneumocystis spread.
  • Healthy individuals carrying Pneumocystis are crucial for its continued transmission within the population.
Keywords:
airborne microorganismsepidemiologyhost-parasite relationshipmetagenomicsopportunistic fungi

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