Misleading presentation of staphylococcal pneumonia in an adolescent girl: a case report

Abstract

S. aureus is a relatively uncommon causative agent of community-acquired pneumonia. The clinical presentation of staphylococcal community-acquired pneumonia is typically acute and severe. Rarely, its clinical and imaging features may mimic other lung diseases, thereby delaying and misleading the diagnosis. We report a case of a 13-year-old girl without predisposing factors who was admitted with a recent history of mild chest pain, weakness and slight fever. Although clinical presentation and imaging findings suggested tuberculosis infection, broncho-alveolar lavage results showed a positivity for methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. A complete recovery was observed after a 21-day course of antibiotics. Our case highlights that staphylococcal pneumonia may develop in adolescents without underlying risk factors, mimicking, in rare cases, clinical presentation and radiological features of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Keywords

• staphylococcus aureus
• tuberculosis
• pneumonia
• pulmonary cavitations
• children