Acute respiratory distress syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic: not only SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

A previously healthy 30-year-old woman developed severe ARDS at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 infection was suspected, but testing was negative. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was detected by PCR in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood. This case illustrates that M. pneumoniae infection can progress to septicemia and ARDS with severe respiratory failure in young healthy adults.

Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; pneumonia; sepsis.