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Case Reports
. 2021 Feb 25;13(2):e13559.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.13559.

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in a Patient With COVID-19: A Case Report

Sarah Ayad  1 , Ramez Alyacoub  1 , Kirolos Gergis  2 , Daniel Grossman  1 , Julius Salamera  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in a Patient With COVID-19: A Case Report

Sarah Ayad et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

The spread of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has resulted in a global health pandemic and caused profound morbidity and mortality worldwide. The virus is known to cause severe hypoxemic respiratory failure and has been associated with extrapulmonary manifestations and end-organ dysfunction in the setting of extensive inflammatory response. Recently, the association between COVID-19 and pneumococcal pneumonia co-infection or superinfections has gained increasing interest. In this report, we present the case of a 58-year-old man with a past medical history significant for pulmonary tuberculosis, diagnosed over two decades ago, who presented with pleuritic chest pain, myalgia, intermittent fevers, chills, and productive cough and was found to have invasive pneumococcal disease and COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of invasive pneumococcal infection in a patient with COVID-19.

Keywords: covid-19; invasive pneumococcal disease; sars cov 2; streptococcus pneumoniae.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Initial CXR of the patient
The image shows large airspace consolidation in the left mid-lung with a cavitary appearance (arrow), and bi-apical reticular opacities, more prominent on the left than right CXR: chest X-ray
Figure 2
Figure 2. CT of the chest - image 1
The image shows evidence of mediastinal adenopathy and cystic bronchiectasis in the left upper lobe with calcification suggesting old granulomatous disease (arrow) CT: computed tomography
Figure 3
Figure 3. CT of the chest - image 2
The image shows ground-glass airspace opacities bilaterally (arrows) CT: computed tomography
Figure 4
Figure 4. CT of the chest - image 3
The image shows dense areas of pulmonary consolidation particularly involving the left upper lobe with the consolidation of at least half of the left upper lobe (arrows) CT: computed tomography
Figure 5
Figure 5. Repeat CXR during the hospital course
The image shows small-to-moderate-sized left basilar pneumothorax and diffuse subcutaneous emphysema (arrows) CXR: chest X-ray
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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