Abstract
Background
Whipple's disease is a rare infectious disease with multi system damage caused by Tropheryma whipplei infection. Classic Whipple's disease often is presents with polyarthritis, digestive system symptoms, and weight loss. The atypical symptoms caused by Tropheryma whipplei infection, harsh in vitro culture conditions, and easily is to be complicated with other pathogenic bacteria infection, which have brought great difficulties and challenges to clinical diagnosis. Herpes simplex virus type 1 infection is common in immunocompromised patients or ventilator-associated pneumonia, but herpes simplex virus type 1 pneumonia is very rare in immunocompetent patients. Without timely diagnosis and treatment, the impact on patients is usually fatal.
Case presentation
The patient reported in this paper is an 87-year-old female with normal immune function, who suffered from severe pneumonia caused by Tropheryma whipplei and herpes simplex virus type 1 infection. After the diagnosis was confirmed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing, we started treatment with TMP-SMX and acyclovir, and her symptoms improved rapidly and she was successfully discharged from the hospital.
Conclusions
As far as we know, pneumonia caused by Tropheryma whipplei and herpes simplex virus type 1 is very rare, and early diagnosis and treatment are crucial, because it can improve the prognosis of patients.