Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2022 Jun 11;14(6):e25846.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.25846. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Availability Bias and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Legionella Pneumonia

Kwaku Kyere  1 , Taiwo O Aremu  2   3 , Oluwafemi A Ajibola  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Availability Bias and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Legionella Pneumonia

Kwaku Kyere et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Cognitive biases, such as the availability heuristic or availability bias, can inadvertently affect patient outcomes. These biases may be magnified during times of heightened awareness of a particular disease. Failure to identify cognitive biases when managing patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can delay the institution of the right treatment option and result in poor health outcomes. We present a case of delayed diagnosis of Legionella pneumonia due to COVID-19-related availability bias. We discuss some methods to mitigate the effects of this bias and the importance of challenging trainees to recognize these pitfalls in medical training.

Keywords: availability bias; availability heuristic; cognitive biases; coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19); covid-19 pandemic; legionella pneumonia; legionellosis; sars-cov-2.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Electrocardiogram (EKG) showing signs of sinus tachycardia
Figure 2
Figure 2. Chest X-ray showing pulmonary infiltrates on the left
The blue arrow indicates an area of ill-defined infiltrates in the lower lobe of the left lung.
Figure 3
Figure 3. CT angiogram of the chest
The red arrow indicates an area of airspace consolidation on the lower lobe of the left lung
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Risk factors associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome and death in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Wu C, Chen X, Cai Y, et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2020;180:934–943. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova, of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova. Brenner DJ, Steigerwalt AG, McDade JE. Ann Intern Med. 1979;90:656–658. - PubMed
    1. Legionnaires' disease: description of an epidemic of pneumonia. Fraser DW, Tsai TR, Orenstein W, et al. N Engl J Med. 1977;297:1189–1197. - PubMed
    1. Legionnaires' disease: isolation of a bacterium and demonstration of its role in other respiratory disease. McDade JE, Shepard CC, Fraser DW, Tsai TR, Redus MA, Dowdle WR. N Engl J Med. 1977;297:1197–1203. - PubMed
    1. Incidence of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization: results of a population-based active surveillance study in Ohio. Marston BJ, Plouffe JF, File TM, et al. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:1709–1718. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources