Pneumocystis jirovecii is a potential pivotal ecological driver contributing to shifts in microbial equilibrium during the early-life lower airway microbiome assembly
mycolabadmin
Researchers studied how bacteria and fungi colonize infant lungs during the first year of life by examining lung tissue from autopsied infants. They found that the lung microbiome undergoes major changes between 2-4 months of age, and that a common fungal infection called Pneumocystis plays a key role in reshaping this microbial community. These early-life changes could have lasting impacts on children’s respiratory health later in life.