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. 2023 Jan-Mar;21(1):2753.
doi: 10.18549/PharmPract.2023.1.2753. Epub 2022 Nov 9.

Co-infection of COVID-19 patients with atypical bacteria: A study based in Jordan

Ahmad R Alsayed  1 , Luai Hasoun  2 , Heba A Khader  3 , Mahmoud S Abu-Samak  4 , Laith Mh Al-Shdifat  5 , Basheer Al-Shammari  6 , Mohammed Al Maqbali  7
Affiliations

Co-infection of COVID-19 patients with atypical bacteria: A study based in Jordan

Ahmad R Alsayed et al. Pharm Pract (Granada). 2023 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this work was to know the prevalence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Jordan. Also, to assess a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in detecting these two bacteria.

Methods: This is a retrospective study performed over the last five months of the 2021. All nasopharyngeal specimens from COVID-19 patients were tested for C. pneumonia, and M. pneumoniae. The C. pneumoniae Pst-1 gene and M. pneumoniae P1 cytadhesin protein gene were the targets.

Results: In this study, 14 out of 175 individuals with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (8.0%) were co-infected with C. pneumoniae or M. pneumoniae. Co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and C. pneumoniae was reported in 5 (2.9%) patients, while 9 (5.1%) patients had M. pneumoniae and SARS-CoV-2 co-infection. The mean (± std) of the correlation coefficient of the calibration curve for real-time PCR analysis was -0.993 (± 0.001) for C. pneumoniae and -0.994 (± 0.003) for M. pneumoniae. The mean amplification efficiencies of C. pneumoniae and M. Pneumoniae were 187.62% and 136.86%, respectively.

Conclusion: In this first study based in Jordan, patients infected with COVID-19 have a low rate of atypical bacterial co-infection. However, clinicians should suspect co-infections with both common and uncommon bacteria in COVID-19 patients. Large prospective investigations are needed to give additional insight on the true prevalence of these co-infections and their impact on the clinical course of COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: Chlamydophila pneumoniae; Jordan; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; coronavirus; polymerase chain reaction.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The calibration curve for C. pneumoniae and M. pneumoniae. Ct: cycle threshold; MPN: Mycoplasma pneumoniae; CPN: Chlamydophila pnemoniae. A and B represent duplicate reactions
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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