Severe pneumonia caused by Chlamydia psittaci: report of two cases and literature review

Authors

  • Nini Dai Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Qiuyu Li Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Jiayi Geng Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Wei Guo Department of Radiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Wei Yan Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.16166

Keywords:

Chlamydia psittaci, severe pneumonia, next-generation sequencing (NGS), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)

Abstract

Introduction: Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Chlamydia psittaci. Its clinical manifestations are nonspecific. Diagnosis of the disease is difficult. In recent years, next-generation sequencing has played an important role in pathogen detection. We report two cases with severe Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia confirmed by next-generation sequencing.

Case Study: The first case is that of a 50-year old man who presented with high fever for four days and cough with sputum for two days. The second case is that of a 57-year-old man who was admitted with high fever for one week, dyspnea and cough with sputum for four days. The second man worked at a chicken farm in the last two months. In both cases, the usual laboratory examination for pathogens detection was negative, and the initial anti-infectious therapy had limited effect. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of case 1 and the blood and sputum of case 2 were sent for next-generation sequencing which resulted in sequence reads of Chlamydia psittaci. Antibiotics were adjusted according to the diagnosis.

Results: The diagnosis of the two cases was confirmed by next-generation sequencing detecting Chlamydia psittaci, and the patients had positive results after treatment.

Conclusions: The two cases suggest that next-generation sequencing could be used in early diagnosis of Chlamydia psittaci infection to initiate specific anti-infection therapy in time.

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Published

2022-06-30

How to Cite

1.
Dai N, Li Q, Geng J, Guo W, Yan W (2022) Severe pneumonia caused by Chlamydia psittaci: report of two cases and literature review. J Infect Dev Ctries 16:1101–1112. doi: 10.3855/jidc.16166

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Section

Case Reports

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