My husband was diagnosed today with pseudonomas and his doc prescribed a nasal antibodic. His cd4 count is 8 and he recently recovered from pcp (the second time) Can you give me any information on what to expect with pseudonomas? Anything that I've read sounds pretty grim. His symptoms have been skin lesions (pox like); joint soreness; fever; earache; and fatique. the culture was positive from his nasal passage. Are any other tests indicated besides the culture?

If the only place they grew Pseudomonas from was his nasal passage, then he is colonized (the bacteria is groing on a body surface), but hot infected (the bacteria have invaded an organ or sterile body space and has caused disease). Pseudomonas infections can be very troublesome in AIDS patients, so it's important for your husband to see his doctor frequently and to have any symptoms checked out that may develop. I wouldn't treat someone who is colonized, because the bacteria may become resistant and there aren't many antibiotics that will treat pseudiomonas successfully.

The best thing he can do to improve his overall health is to be on combination HIV therapy. If his CD4 cells respond to treatment for HIV, then neither PCP nor pseudomonas should be a big threat. Good luck!