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Case Reports
. 2024 May 27:12:2050313X241256858.
doi: 10.1177/2050313X241256858. eCollection 2024.

Secondary pneumonia from herpes simplex is not so simple: A case report

Vashistha M Patel  1 , Shreya V Patel  1 , Hunter Childers  1 , Erin Townsley  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Secondary pneumonia from herpes simplex is not so simple: A case report

Vashistha M Patel et al. SAGE Open Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

A 33-year-old female was admitted for community-acquired pneumonia. On presentation, she was tachypneic and tachycardic and leukocytosis at 28,900/µL. Chest imaging showed dense consolidation on the right upper lobe. Due to refractory worsening respiratory failure, she was intubated with mechanical ventilation. Initial bronchoscopy with culture data was negative. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was pursued on the fourth day. Repeat bronchoscopy revealed targetoid ulcerative lesions with erythema in the right middle, lower lobes and left lower lobe. We describe a case of herpes simplex virus pneumonia in an immunocompetent patient that occurred in the setting of acute bacterial infection.

Keywords: Viral pneumonia; herpes simplex virus; viral reactivation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Chest radiograph with red arrow showing dense consolidation in the right upper lobe.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Computed tomography angiogram of chest with red arrow showing severe dense consolidation involving the entire right upper lobe with air bronchograms and patchy consolidations in the right middle and lower lobes.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Chest radiograph with red arrow showing dense consolidation in the entire right lung field and contralateral consolidation in the left lower lung field.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Bronchoscopic images showing targetoid ulcerative lesions, erythema in the right middle and lower lobes.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Bronchoscopic images showing targetoid ulcerative lesions, erythema in the right middle and lower lobes.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
The left lower lobe had significant erythema, edema, and narrowing of the left main-stem bronchus with similar lesions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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