{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Seroprevalence of community-acquired atypical bacterial pneumonia among adult COVID-19 patients from a single center in Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia: A retrospective cohort study.
{Author}: Alhoufie ST;Ibrahim NA;Alsharif NH;Alfarouk KO;Makhdoom HM;Aljabri KR;Saeed SH;Khoumaeys AA;Almutawif YA;Najim MA;Ali HM;Aljifri AA;Kheyami AM;Alhazmi AA;
{Journal}: Saudi Med J
{Volume}: 43
{Issue}: 9
{Year}: Sep 2022
{Factor}: 1.422
{DOI}: 10.15537/smj.2022.43.9.20220379
{Abstract}: <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>To investigate the seroprevalence of the community-acquired bacterial that causes atypical pneumonia among confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) patients.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>In this cohort study, we retrospectively investigated the seroprevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila among randomly selected 189 confirmed COVID-19 patients at their time of hospital presentation via commercial immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against these bacteria. We also carried out quantitative measurements of procalcitonin in patients' serum.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The seropositivity for L. pneumophila was 12.6%, with significant distribution among patientsolder than 50 years (χ2 test, p=0.009), while those of M. pneumoniae was 6.3% and C. pneumoniae was 2.1%, indicating an overall co-infection rate of 21% among COVID-19 patients. No significant difference (χ2 test, p=0.628) in the distribution of bacterial co-infections existed between male and female patients. Procalcitonin positivity was confirmed amongst 5% of co-infected patients.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Our study documented the seroprevalence of community-acquired bacteria co-infection among COVID-19 patients. In this study, procalcitonin was an inconclusive biomarker for non-severe bacterial co-infections among COVID-19 patients. Consideration and proper detection of community-acquired bacterial co-infection may minimize misdiagnosis during the current pandemic and positively reflect disease management and prognosis.