Concomitant Infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae and SARS-CoV-2 in Tunisian Patients
Elhem Yacoub, Imen Chniba, Safa Boujemaa, Nadine Khadraoui, Béhija Mlik and Boutheina Ben Abdelmoumen Mardassi*
Group of Mycoplasmas, Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Vaccinology, and Biotechnology Development, Institut Pasteur of Tunis, University of Tunis El-Manar, Tunisia.
Citation: Yacoub E, Chniba I, Boujemaa S, Khadraoui N, Mlik B, Mardassi BA (2023) Concomitant Infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae and SARS-CoV-2 in Tunisian Patients. SciTech Infectious Diseases 2023.
Received: August 30, 2023 Accepted: September 01, 2023 Published: September 01, 2023
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most dramatic pandemic that affected the world since the 20th century. Apart from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is the principle etiological and causative agent of this disease, some studies have raised concerns towards co-infection with different fungal, viral, and bacterial agents in COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of the respiratory pathogen, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, in a cohort of thirteen COVID-19 Tunisian patients. These have been admitted to the intensive care unit of a Tunisian hospital situated in the south-eastern of Tunis. Three serodiagnostic assays were applied to carry out this work. An in-house species-specific crude antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (capELISA) and a recombinant antigen-based ELISA (recELISA), using the Escherichia coli expressed type 1 and type 2 of M. pneumoniae P1 adhesin, were performed for specific detection of M. pneumoniae antibodies. Results obtained with both ELISAs were confirmed by western blot assay. Co-infection cases with SARS-CoV-2 and M. pneumoniae were signalled in two-thirds of the enrolled COVID-19 Tunisian patients (69%: nine out thirteen). With P value < 0.05, the reactivity of sera with P1 adhesin type 2 was statistically assumed to be significant and more important than the reactivity with the type 1. Results obtained by western blot showed a strong reactivity between the tested sera and major specific M. pneumoniae proteins. However, no common reactivity pattern shared between the positive sera could be deduced. The co-infection cases were almost equitably distributed between the two genders (44.5% in women versus 55.5% in men). This abstract emphasized the possible occurrence of co-infection with other respiratory pathogens like M. pneumoniae in COVID-19 patients and the possibility of nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between patients admitted to the same intensive care unit. This could help in providing the appropriate medical care and in improving the recovery from COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Co-infection, Nosocomial-infection
Abreviations: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, capELISA, resELISA
