ABSTRACT
We describe screening results for detection of co-infections with Legionella pneumophila in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. In total, 93 patients were tested; 1 was positive (1.1%) for L. pneumophila serogroup 1. Co-infections with L. pneumophila occur in coronavirus disease patients and should not be missed.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Coinfection , Legionella pneumophila , Germany/epidemiology , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Tertiary Care CentersABSTRACT
We found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the nucleoprotein gene of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from a patient interfered with detection in a widely used commercial assay. Some 0.2% of the isolates in the EpiCoV database contain this SNP. Although SARS-CoV-2 was still detected by the other probe in the assay, this underlines the necessity of targeting two independent essential regions of a pathogen for reliable detection.