The first case of COVID-19 occurring as community-acquired pneumonia in Hokkaido, Japan and our preventive measures against nosocomial infection

Keiki Yokoo; Fumiko Sugaya; Suguru Matsuzaka; Kentaro Ueda; Ryosuke Kamimura; Takeshi Yokoyama; Yoshiyasu Ambo; Gen Yamada; Yoshiaki Narita

doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2020.101078

The first case of COVID-19 occurring as community-acquired pneumonia in Hokkaido, Japan and our preventive measures against nosocomial infection

Respir Med Case Rep. 2020 May 8:30:101078. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2020.101078. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Keiki Yokoo¹, Fumiko Sugaya¹, Suguru Matsuzaka², Kentaro Ueda³, Ryosuke Kamimura³, Takeshi Yokoyama³, Yoshiyasu Ambo⁴, Gen Yamada¹, Yoshiaki Narita⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan.
² Department of General Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease Medicine, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan.
³ Department of Anesthesiology Medicine, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Medicine, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan.

Abstract

We report a case of a 59-year-old man with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). He had visited a hospital for fever and cough and been treated with antibiotics for pneumonia in the right upper lobe. However, he gradually progressed to dyspnea and consulted our hospital. His chest radiographs showed bilateral pneumonia shadows and his CT showed ground glass opacities and consolidation. Although we treated him with broad-spectrum antibiotics, the pneumonia shadow rapidly progressed and mechanical ventilation was administered. We collected sputum from the bronchus using bronchoscopy to detect microorganisms, and RT-PCR tests confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia. He was transferred to a designated hospital. In order to prevent the occurrence of nosocomial infections, close contacts within the hospital and medical staff were suspended from their work for two weeks. No secondary infection with COVID-19 appeared. This was the first case of COVID-19 occurring as community-acquired pneumonia in Hokkaido, Japan.

Keywords: COVID-19; New coronavirus pneumonia; Nosocomial infection; SARS-CoV-2; Steroid treatment.

Publication types

Case Reports