Identification of Coinfections by Viral and Bacterial Pathogens in COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients in Peru: Molecular Diagnosis and Clinical Characteristics
Giancarlo Pérez-Lazo,
Wilmer Silva-Caso,
Juana del Valle-Mendoza,
Adriana Morales-Moreno,
José Ballena-López,
Fernando Soto-Febres,
Johanna Martins-Luna,
Hugo Carrillo-Ng,
Luís J. del Valle,
Sungmin Kym,
Miguel Angel Aguilar-Luis,
Issac Peña-Tuesta,
Carmen Tinco-Valdez,
Luis Ricardo Illescas
Affiliations
Giancarlo Pérez-Lazo
Division of Infectious Diseases, Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital-EsSalud, Lima 15033, Peru
Wilmer Silva-Caso
Centre of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
Juana del Valle-Mendoza
Centre of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
Adriana Morales-Moreno
Division of Infectious Diseases, Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital-EsSalud, Lima 15033, Peru
José Ballena-López
Division of Infectious Diseases, Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital-EsSalud, Lima 15033, Peru
Fernando Soto-Febres
Division of Infectious Diseases, Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital-EsSalud, Lima 15033, Peru
Johanna Martins-Luna
Laboratorio de Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima 15024, Peru
Hugo Carrillo-Ng
Centre of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
Luís J. del Valle
Barcelona Research Center for Multiscale Science and Engineering, Departament d’Enginyeria Química, EEBE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Sungmin Kym
Korea International Cooperation for Infectious Diseases, Chungnam National University College of Medicine, Daejeon 305764, Korea
Miguel Angel Aguilar-Luis
Centre of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
Issac Peña-Tuesta
Centre of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
Carmen Tinco-Valdez
Centre of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
Luis Ricardo Illescas
Division of Infectious Diseases, Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital-EsSalud, Lima 15033, Peru
The impact of respiratory coinfections in COVID-19 is still not well understood despite the growing evidence that consider coinfections greater than expected. A total of 295 patients older than 18 years of age, hospitalized with a confirmed diagnosis of moderate/severe pneumonia due to SARS-CoV-2 infection (according to definitions established by the Ministry of Health of Peru) were enrolled during the study period. A coinfection with one or more respiratory pathogens was detected in 154 (52.2%) patients at hospital admission. The most common coinfections were Mycoplasma pneumoniae (28.1%), Chlamydia pneumoniae (8.8%) and with both bacteria (11.5%); followed by Adenovirus (1.7%), Mycoplasma pneumoniae/Adenovirus (0.7%), Chlamydia pneumoniae/Adenovirus (0.7%), RSV-B/Chlamydia pneumoniae (0.3%) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae/Chlamydia pneumoniae/Adenovirus (0.3%). Expectoration was less frequent in coinfected individuals compared to non-coinfected (5.8% vs. 12.8%). Sepsis was more frequent among coinfected patients than non-coinfected individuals (33.1% vs. 20.6%) and 41% of the patients who received macrolides empirically were PCR-positive for Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae.
