PCPÜ

abbreviation (Health and Fitness) Short for pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a fatal form of pneumonia caused by infection with the Pneumocystis carinii parasite, which especially affects the immunocompromised (such as people with Aids). Etymology: The initial letters of Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia. History and Usage: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, in which numerous cysts form inside the lung cavity, was first observed and named in the fifties and commonly abbreviated to PCP from the mid seventies. It was its rapid spread among people with Aids in the early and mid eighties that brought the name and the abbreviation out of the specialized domain of medical vocabulary and into widespread public use, especially in the US. Three months after we'd moved in together, we learned Keith had [Aids]. The tip-over diagnosis was PCP. Michael Bishop Unicorn Mountain (1988; 1989 ed.), p. 61