Long COVID Complicated by Fatal Cytomegalovirus and Aspergillus Infection of the Lungs: An Autopsy Case Report

Autor: Lucia Krivosikova, Tereza Kuracinova, Peter Martanovic, Michaela Hyblova, Jozef Kaluzay, Alexandra Uhrinova, Pavol Janega, Pavel Babal
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Viruses, Vol 15, Iss 9, p 1810 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1999-4915
DOI: 10.3390/v15091810
Popis: After the acute phase of COVID-19, some patients develop long COVID. This term is used for a variety of conditions with a complex, yet not fully elucidated etiology, likely including the prolonged persistence of the virus in the organism and progression to lung fibrosis. We present a unique autopsy case of a patient with severe COVID-19 with prolonged viral persistence who developed interstitial lung fibrosis complicated by a fatal combination of cytomegalovirus and Aspergillus infection. SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected at autopsy in the lungs more than two months after the acute infection, although tests from the nasopharynx were negative. Immune dysregulation after COVID-19 and the administration of corticoid therapy created favorable conditions for the cytomegalovirus and Aspergillus infection that were uncovered at autopsy. These pathogens may represent a risk for opportunistic infections, complicating not only the acute coronavirus infection but also long COVID, as was documented in the presented case.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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