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CASE REPORT article

Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1517389
This article is part of the Research Topic Case Reports in Pulmonary Medicine 2024 View all 20 articles

When a Sore Throat Turns Deadly Multiple Serous Cavity Effusions: The Role of Prevotella oris in Rapidly Progressing Infection in a case

Provisionally accepted
Fangqi Zhang Fangqi Zhang 1Juan-Li Wang Juan-Li Wang 2Shaokui Si Shaokui Si 1Hao Guo Hao Guo 1Xiang Yue Xiang Yue 1Wei Wen Wei Wen 3*Jian Zhu Jian Zhu 4*
  • 1 987th Hospital of PLA, Baoji, China
  • 2 Wuhan Third Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
  • 3 Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 4 General Hospital of Central Theater Command, Wuhan, China

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

    Severe infections that develop rapidly from ordinary symptoms not only increase patient misunderstanding but also lead to overdetection of such symptoms by physicians. This case study presents a 19-year-old male who initially presented with a sore throat and subsequently developed multiple serous cavity effusions, leading to septic pulmonary embolism and septic shock. After multiple cultures of the patient's sputum yielded no identifiable pathogenic bacteria, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) revealed Prevotella oris as the predominant pathogen present in both the patient's peripheral blood and pericardial drainage fluid. Subsequent antibiotic treatment, guided by the mNGS results, along with surgical drainage and mediastinal irrigation, effectively controlled and ultimately cured the patient's condition. This case is unique in that it is the first to show that normally colonizing Prevotella can also cause fatal multiorgan infection as an opportunistic pathogen in a previously healthy and had no immune-related diseases youngster. The goal of this study is to expand the clinical horizon about this common symptom and its very serious fatal outcome.

    Keywords: polyserous effusions, Prevotella, sore throat, Necrotizing mediastinitis, case report

    Received: 26 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wang, Si, Guo, Yue, Wen and Zhu. 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:
    Wei Wen, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
    Jian Zhu, General Hospital of Central Theater Command, Wuhan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.