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Pregnancy combined with severe pneumonia caused by Chlamydia psittaci infection - a case report
Zhifen Yang1, Shengpu Wang2, Dong Xing2
1Department of Emergency, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. cxsxfy@126.com.
Insights
Chlamydia psittaci (Cps) caused severe pneumonia in a pregnant woman. Rapid diagnosis using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and targeted antibiotics led to successful treatment.
Area of Science:
- Medical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pulmonology
Background:
- Chlamydia psittaci (Cps) is an intracellular bacterium that can cause psittacosis in humans.
- Psittacosis presents diagnostic challenges due to its rapid progression and potential for severe outcomes, including multi-organ dysfunction and high mortality.
Observation:
- A pregnant patient at 29+1 weeks gestation presented with fever and pneumonia.
- Chest CT revealed consolidations, while blood and sputum cultures were negative.
- Next-generation sequencing (NGS) identified Cps as the causative agent.
Findings:
- Cps infection led to severe pneumonia in the pregnant patient.
- Specific antibiotic therapy effectively treated the Cps pneumonia.
- NGS proved crucial for rapid and accurate pathogen identification when traditional cultures failed.
Implications:
- Cps can cause severe pneumonia in pregnant individuals.
- Prompt and accurate diagnosis via NGS is vital for effective treatment of Cps infections.
- Targeted antibiotic therapy can successfully manage Cps-induced pneumonia, even in pregnancy.
Objective:
Chlamydia psittaci (Cps) feeds on gram-negative aerobic cells. Respiratory inhalation of Cps or close contact with infected animals can cause psittacosis in humans. Given its challengeable early diagnosis and rapid progression, misdiagnosis or improper antibacterial drugs may lead to multi-organ dysfunction with a high mortality.
Case Report:
A pregnant woman at 29+1 weeks of gestational age had a fever. CT images of the chest showed lamellar consolidations in the inferior lobe of the right lung, light inflammation in the middle lobe of the right lung. Negative results were obtained from multiple times of blood and sputum culture. Next generation sequencing (NGS) results identified that Cps caused severe pneumonia, which was alleviated by specific antibiotic treatment.
Conclusion:
Cps can cause severe pneumonia in the pregnant woman and be cured through precise antibiotic treatment. NGS is efficient in the rapid identification of pathogens and accurate diagnosis when bacteriological culture fails.
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