Occult AIDS: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in elderly people

Abstract

The common understanding of AIDS is that it affects young homosexuals and intravenous drug addicts. In a young man presenting with an acute respiratory illness the diagnosis of an infection related to AIDS would be considered. We describe two patients, aged 64 and 73, who presented with chest infections; the diagnosis of AIDS was initially overlooked on the basis of both their age and the history.