{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T02:34:34Z","timestamp":1772505274910,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,17]],"date-time":"2021-12-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1639699200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"national natural science foundation of china","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["No. 8207080300"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. 8207080300"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100019398","name":"Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["No. yyqdkt2019-42"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. yyqdkt2019-42"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100019398","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) and pulmonary toxoplasmosis (PT) are caused by <jats:italic>Pneumocystis jirovecii<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic>. The clinical symptoms and imaging of PCP and PT are indistinguishable. A duplex qPCR was developed to differentiate between these two pathogens. In testing 92 clinical samples to validate the performance of this method for <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>jirovecii<\/jats:italic> detection, it identified 31 positive samples for <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>jirovecii<\/jats:italic> infection, consistent with clinical diagnosis. Among the remainder of the 61 clinical samples with suspected PCP, yet showing as negative by the conventional PCR diagnosis approach, 6 of them proved positive using our new assay. Our new approach also produced similar results in identification of <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infections, giving a result of 2 positive and 20 negative in clinical samples. An investigation was undertaken on the prevalence of <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>jirovecii<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infections using 113 samples from lung infection patients. 9% (10\/113) were shown to be positive with infections of <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>jirovecii<\/jats:italic>, 2% with <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> (2\/113) and 5% (6\/113) were co-infected with both pathogens. Although this duplex qPCR can detect individual <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>jirovecii<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infection, and co-infection of both pathogens, further large-scale investigations are needed to validate its performance, especially in <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> detection. Our assay provides a rapid and accurate tool for PCP and PT diagnosis in immunocompromised population and clinical surveillance of these infections in patients with no immune defects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010025","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,17]],"date-time":"2021-12-17T18:24:09Z","timestamp":1639765449000},"page":"e0010025","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii and Toxoplasma gondii in patients with lung infections by a duplex qPCR 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