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CASE REPORT article

Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1491838
This article is part of the Research Topic Case Reports in Pulmonary Medicine 2024 View all 16 articles

Early and Rapid Diagnosis of Chlamydia psittaci Pneumonia by tNGS in Six Patients: A Case Series

Provisionally accepted
Xinsheng Yan Xinsheng Yan *Huali Fu Huali Fu Wenjun Deng Wenjun Deng Zhenlu Zhang Zhenlu Zhang Dong Wang Dong Wang *
  • Wuhan Asia General Hospital, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Psittacosis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Chlamydia psittaci (C. psittaci) infection, which can be transmitted by birds, poultry and wild animals. The symptoms and imaging findings of C. psittaci pneumonia are atypical and primarily rely on aetiological diagnosis. The incidence of C. psittaci infection has been significantly underestimated because of the low sensitivity and poor timeliness of traditional diagnostic methods. Therefore, early and accurate diagnosis of psittacosis remains a challenge. Case Presentation: A case series with six pneumonia patients who were admitted to our hospital in the period from January 2023 to June 2023 is presented. These patients exhibited acute onset and symptoms, including fever, cough, poor appetite, dry mouth, dizziness, chills, and chest tightness. Despite comprehensive laboratory and radiological examinations, the cause of the pneumonia remained unidentified. Therefore, a sample of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was tested via target next-generation sequencing (tNGS), which revealed a positive result for C. psittaci. Prompt adjustment of the treatment regimens upon identification of the pathogen led to favourable outcomes in all patients. Conclusion: tNGS is a novel diagnostic technology that enables rapid, accurate and costeffective detection of C. psittaci pneumonia. Early detection of C. psittaci can improve patient outcomes through timely adjustment of therapies.

    Keywords: Psittacosis, Chlamydia psittaci, target next-generation sequencing, TNGS, Pathogen Detection

    Received: 05 Sep 2024; Accepted: 11 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yan, Fu, Deng, Zhang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xinsheng Yan, Wuhan Asia General Hospital, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China
    Dong Wang, Wuhan Asia General Hospital, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China

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