Co‑infection of COVID-19 patients with atypical bacteria: A study based in Jordan

Pharmacy Practice

  • Ahmad R. Alsayed1Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11931-166, Jordan.
  • Luai Hasoun1Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11931-166, Jordan.
  • Heba A Khader2Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Hashemite University, PO Box 330127, Zarqa 13133, Jordan.
  • Mahmoud S Abu-Samak1Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11931-166, Jordan.
  • Laith MH Al-Shdifat3Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11931-166, Jordan.
  • Basheer Al-shammari1Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11931-166, Jordan.
  • Mohammed Al Maqbali4Department of Nursing Midwifery and Health, Northumbria University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK.

Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 1-5

DOI: 10.18549/PharmPract.2023.1.2753

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this work was to know the prevalence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Jordan. Also, to assess a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in detecting these two bacteria. Methods: This is a retrospective study performed over the last five months of the 2021. All nasopharyngeal specimens from COVID-19 patients were tested for C. pneumonia, and M. pneumoniae. The C. pneumoniae Pst-1 gene and M. pneumoniae P1 cytadhesin protein gene were the targets. Results: In this study, 14 out of 175 individuals with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (8.0%) were co‐infected with C. pneumoniae or M. pneumoniae. Co‐infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 and C. pneumoniae was reported in 5 (2.9%) patients, while 9 (5.1%) patients had M. pneumoniae and SARS‐CoV‐2 co-infection. The mean (± std) of the correlation coefficient of the calibration curve for real-time PCR analysis was –0.993 (± 0.001) for C. pneumoniae and –0.994 (± 0.003) for M. pneumoniae. The mean amplification efficiencies of C. pneumoniae and M. Pneumoniae were 187.62% and 136.86%, respectively. Conclusion: In this first study based in Jordan, patients infected with COVID-19 have a low rate of atypical bacterial co-infection. However, clinicians should suspect co-infections with both common and uncommon bacteria in COVID-19 patients. Large prospective investigations are needed to give additional insight on the true prevalence of these co-infections and their impact on the clinical course of COVID-19 patients.

Keywords

  • Chlamydophila pneumoniae
  • coronavirus
  • Jordan
  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae
  • polymerase chain reaction
Pharmacy Practice

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