TITLE:
Laboratory Diagnosis of Bacterial Meningitis in a Patient with COVID-19
AUTHORS:
Irena Ivanova Gencheva-Angelova
KEYWORDS:
Meningitis, Laboratory, Prognosis, CSF, COVID-19
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
20,
2021
ABSTRACT: Against
the background of a COVID-19 infection, the overlap of bacterial coinfection is
associated with an increased risk of poor treatment outcomes. A 76-year-old man
was treated for ischemic stroke in the period of one week. During his hospital
stay, he showed symptoms of a viral infection, due to which a PCR sample was
taken for SARS-CoV-2. The test result was positive. Meningoencephalitis is suspected on the basis of the clinical symptoms
shown and the initial blood test. K.
pneumonia was detected by a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microbiological
examination. The risk of bacterial coinfection with COVID-19 remains unclear.
Timely and rapid diagnosis and treatment of bacterial meningitis, in the
context of a proven COVID-19 infection, require a variety of biological tests
and a multidisciplinary approach. In the early stages of acute bacterial and
viral meningitis, the
signs and symptoms are often nonspecific and it is not always possible to make
a differential diagnosis. Laboratory tests,
characterizing COVID-19, should determine the type, prognosis, and
outcome of a bacterial coinfection. Refining the laboratory diagnosis of a
bacterial infection with COVID-19 is a new challenge for doctors.