Cargando…

Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome

Influenza is a well established cause of seasonal hospitalizations and deaths among older persons. However, influenza is frequently underdiagnosed by physicians, because its clinical presentations are often complex, particularly in elderly patients. We report the case of a 78-year-old woman admitted...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Haber, Nicole, Khelili, Djamal, Martineau, Delphine, Dekimeche, Siham, Szekely, Carol, Lebon, Pierre
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Libertas Academica 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257067/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22262945
http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/CCRep.S8460
_version_ 1782221095591477248
author Haber, Nicole
Khelili, Djamal
Martineau, Delphine
Dekimeche, Siham
Szekely, Carol
Lebon, Pierre
author_facet Haber, Nicole
Khelili, Djamal
Martineau, Delphine
Dekimeche, Siham
Szekely, Carol
Lebon, Pierre
author_sort Haber, Nicole
collection PubMed
description Influenza is a well established cause of seasonal hospitalizations and deaths among older persons. However, influenza is frequently underdiagnosed by physicians, because its clinical presentations are often complex, particularly in elderly patients. We report the case of a 78-year-old woman admitted to the emergency department in January 2008 with fever, vomiting, and a history of asthenia and falls in the preceding three days. Diagnosis of influenza at admission was missed. Influenza was diagnosed by direct fluorescent antibody in a sputum specimen four days later, but the evolution was rapidly unfavorable with fatal respiratory distress syndrome. This case illustrates that, during the influenza season, influenza should be suspected in elderly patients admitted to hospital even if they do not present with classical symptoms. Immunofluorescence testing on sputum specimens can provide a rapid diagnosis and merits further evaluation.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3257067
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2012
publisher Libertas Academica
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-32570672012-01-19 Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome Haber, Nicole Khelili, Djamal Martineau, Delphine Dekimeche, Siham Szekely, Carol Lebon, Pierre Clin Med Insights Case Rep Case Report Influenza is a well established cause of seasonal hospitalizations and deaths among older persons. However, influenza is frequently underdiagnosed by physicians, because its clinical presentations are often complex, particularly in elderly patients. We report the case of a 78-year-old woman admitted to the emergency department in January 2008 with fever, vomiting, and a history of asthenia and falls in the preceding three days. Diagnosis of influenza at admission was missed. Influenza was diagnosed by direct fluorescent antibody in a sputum specimen four days later, but the evolution was rapidly unfavorable with fatal respiratory distress syndrome. This case illustrates that, during the influenza season, influenza should be suspected in elderly patients admitted to hospital even if they do not present with classical symptoms. Immunofluorescence testing on sputum specimens can provide a rapid diagnosis and merits further evaluation. Libertas Academica 2012-01-08 /pmc/articles/PMC3257067/ /pubmed/22262945 http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/CCRep.S8460 Text en © the author(s), publisher and licensee Libertas Academica Ltd. This is an open access article. Unrestricted non-commercial use is permitted provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Haber, Nicole
Khelili, Djamal
Martineau, Delphine
Dekimeche, Siham
Szekely, Carol
Lebon, Pierre
Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome
title Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome
title_full Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome
title_fullStr Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome
title_full_unstemmed Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome
title_short Delay in Diagnosis of Influenza Virus in an Elderly Hospitalized Patient: a Fatal Outcome
title_sort delay in diagnosis of influenza virus in an elderly hospitalized patient: a fatal outcome
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257067/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22262945
http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/CCRep.S8460
work_keys_str_mv AT habernicole delayindiagnosisofinfluenzavirusinanelderlyhospitalizedpatientafataloutcome
AT khelilidjamal delayindiagnosisofinfluenzavirusinanelderlyhospitalizedpatientafataloutcome
AT martineaudelphine delayindiagnosisofinfluenzavirusinanelderlyhospitalizedpatientafataloutcome
AT dekimechesiham delayindiagnosisofinfluenzavirusinanelderlyhospitalizedpatientafataloutcome
AT szekelycarol delayindiagnosisofinfluenzavirusinanelderlyhospitalizedpatientafataloutcome
AT lebonpierre delayindiagnosisofinfluenzavirusinanelderlyhospitalizedpatientafataloutcome