Author Information
An event is serious (based on the ICH definition) when the patient outcome is:
* death
* life-threatening
* hospitalisation
* disability
* congenital anomaly
* other medically important event
In a case series, a 63-year-old man developed Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) pneumonia and an 86-year-old man developed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) endocarditis during off-label treatment with dexamethasone for COVID-19 pneumonia.
Both the men were admitted for COVID-19 pneumonia. They were treated with non-invasive ventilation and off-label high-dose IV dexamethasone 8 mg/day. After the resolution of COVID-19 pneumonia, one man developed P. jirovecii pneumonia, while other man developed MRSA endocarditis with infarct lesions caused by septic emboli in brain and splenic area [durations of treatments to reactions onsets not stated].
The man, who developed the P. jirovecii pneumonia was re-admitted and treated with cotrimoxazole. However, the another man subsequently died due to MRSA endocarditis aggravation [not all outcomes stated].
Reference
- Fortini P, et al. Severe bacterial complications of COVID-19 pneumonia treated with corticosteroids: description of two cases. Italian Journal of Medicine 15: 36, No. 3, Oct 2021. Available from: URL: https://www.italjmed.org/index.php/ijm/article/view/itjm.2021.s1/1418 [abstract]