Infections that may be missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, legionella pneumophila infection: A case report
Mehmet Kilic1
, Kübra Saçar Kubuc1, Esra Gurbuz2, Abdusselam Ozdemir3
1Depertmant of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, University of Health Sciences, Van Training and Research Hospital, Van, Türkiye
2Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Health Sciences, Van Training and Research Hospital, Van, Türkiye
3Department of General Surgery, University of Health Sciences, Van Training and Research Hospital, Van, Türkiye
Keywords: COVID-19, Legionella infection, pandemic, pneumonia.
Abstract
During pandemics, certain uncommon diseases might manifest within vulnerable populations. An example is Legionella spp, an aerobic, gram-negative pathogen that can thrive intracellularly. This microorganism holds significance for public health, being responsible for both pneumonia acquired in community settings and healthcare settings. Among Legionella cases, Legionella pneumophila accounts for about 90% of them. When observing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in the intensive care unit, it's crucial to consider Legionella as a possible alternative diagnosis due to its similar clinical manifestations. In this case report, we aim to highlight a 43-year-old male patient, previously without any chronic conditions, who was initially diagnosed with COVID-19 but later identified to have Legionella pneumonia, presenting with symptoms including confusion, dysarthria, weakness, pain, and respiratory failure upon hospital admission.
Cite this article as: Kilic M, Saçar Kubuc K, Gurbuz E, Ozdemir A. Infections that may be missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, legionella pneumophila infection: A case report. D J Med Sci 2023;9(2):72-77. doi: 10.5606/fng. btd.2023.119.
A written informed consent was obtained from the patient.
Data Sharing Statement:
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Analyzed and interpreted the patient data, performed the physical examination, and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript: M.K.; Major contributor in writing and reading and correcting any misspellings in the manuscript: K.S.K.; Major contributor in writing the manuscript: A.O.; Major contributor in writing the manuscript: E.G.; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/ or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.