Immunocompetent Infants as a Human Reservoir for Pneumocystis jirovecii: Rapid Screening by Non‐Invasive Sampling and Real‐Time PCR at the Mitochondria1 Large Subunit rRNA Gene

We tested a real-time PCR assay targeting the Pneumocystis jirovecii mitochondrial large subunit rRNA gene on 240 archival nasopharyngeal aspirates from non-immunosuppressed infants. The sensitivity of this assay appeared close to that of a conventional nested-PCR assay targeting the same locus. Because of its one-step procedure, and its sensitivity and rapidity, the real-time PCR assay is particularly suitable for screening individuals parasitized by P. jirovecii within large populations.