Laboratory Diagnosis of Bacterial Meningitis in a Patient with COVID-19

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.