Identifying Bacterial Pneumonia in Patients with Severe COVID-19

Tests of bronchoalveolar lavage samples from intubated patients showed that only one fifth had evidence of an early bacterial infection and fewer than half developed ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Although the incidence of bacterial superinfection together with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is unknown, most patients with severe COVID-19 receive empiric antibacterial therapy. In this single-center retrospective observational study of 179 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who required mechanical ventilation, researchers evaluated the role of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) plus molecular diagnostics for identifying bacterial superinfection (defined as detection of a respiratory pathogen by quantitative culture or multiplex PCR).

BAL was performed within 48 hours of intubation in 133 patients, 28 of whom had documented bacterial superinfection pneumonia. Streptococcus species or methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus were found in 22 of the…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

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Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Identifying Bacterial Pneumonia in Patients with Severe COVID-19

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Reviewing Author