Fatal adenovirus pneumonia in a 15-day-old infant despite extracorporeal life support treatment: A case report

Med Int (Lond). 2022 Apr 26;2(3):15. doi: 10.3892/mi.2022.40. eCollection 2022 May-Jun.

Abstract

Infections are one of the most common causes of severe neonatal diseases and the leading cause of neonatal death. Although respiratory viral infections are widespread, they are still not recognized as the predominant causes of neonatal deaths. Adenovirus infection is uncommon during the neonatal period, and it frequently has a fatal outcome. Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish from other common bacterial and respiratory viral infections. The present study reports the case of a 15-day-old newborn who presented with coagulation disorders and hypoxemia in September, 2020. Human adenovirus of species D-53 (HAdV-D53) was detected in the blood and sputum. Severe pneumonia rapidly progressed to multiple organ failure syndrome and the patient succumbed to the disease, despite receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Keywords: adenovirus; coagulation disorders; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; pneumonia.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

Grants and funding

Funding: The present study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 81971423 and 81771626).