Mycoplasma pneumoniae co-infection with SARS-CoV-2: A case report

Abstract

We report co-infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in a patient with pneumonia in India. Atypical bacterial pathogens causing community-acquired pneumonia may share similar clinical presentations and radiographic features with SARS-CoV-2 making a thorough differential diagnosis essential. The co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and M. pneumoniae is infrequently reported in the literature. Broader testing for common respiratory pathogens should be performed in severe COVID-19 cases to rule out other concurrent infections. Early identification of co-existing respiratory pathogens could provide pathogen-directed therapy, and can save patient lives during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae among Hospitalized Patients with Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in an Indian Tertiary Care Hospital: an Underreported Health Problem

“…For one patient in our cohort, the co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and Mp was fatal. The clinical course of this patient has been reported in a previous publication by our group ( 32 ). Patients with COVID-19 and MPP may have a similar clinical presentation and radiographic features; therefore, all critically ill patients with COVID-19 should be meticulously tested for other atypical pathogens including Mp to ensure adequate treatment.…”

Coinfections with Other Respiratory Pathogens among Patients with COVID-19

“…Coinfection with M. pneumoniae or C. pneumoniae was not identified. However, we previously reported M. pneumoniae coinfection in a patient with SARS-CoV-2 using an in-house PCR ( 27 ).…”

Long-read 16S-seq reveals nasopharynx microbial dysbiosis and enrichment of Mycobacterium and Mycoplasma in COVID-19 patients: a potential source of co-infection

“…Several case reports from different parts of the world have shown that Mycoplasma pneumoniae co-infections in COVID-19 patients result in disease severity. [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Patients with atypical respiratory pathogens such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae or Chlamydia pneumoniae co-infections have high propensity of developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). 43 Both COVID-19 pneumonia and pulmonary pneumonia elicit fever, cough, and shortness of breath, and present similar diagnostic features in chest X-rays and HRCT, because of which they escape logical diagnosis by clinicians.…”