Whether Pneumocystis colonization is transmitted in families with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected members is unknown. Using nested polymerase chain reaction of oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal samples, we detected colonization in 11.4% of HIV-infected adults and in 3.3% of their children, but there was no evidence of clustering.
Maternal Child and Adolescent Center for Infectious Diseases and Virology, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Will Rogers Institute Pulmonary Research Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
