ABSTRACT
Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia was an uncommon disease, occurring in immunocompromised patient populations, until the beginning of the 1980s, when it emerged as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected patients [1,2]. The major chemotherapeutic agents available for treatment of P. jiroveci pneumonia before the AIDS epidemic were parenteral pentamidine and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) [3]. The worldwide AIDS epidemic of the past two decades has intensified efforts to develop new chemotherapeutic agents and new regimens for treatment and prophylaxis. To date, however, TMP-SMX, due to its well-established safety and efficacy, as well as its low cost, remains the drug of choice for both treatment and prophylaxis of P. jiroveci pneumonia. The new drugs provide alternatives for patients who are intolerant of TMP-SMX or who fail this regimen.
