Adenoviral pneumonia with organising features in an immunocompetent patient: When steroids make the difference

Community-acquired pneumonia is a common lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) causing significant mortality and morbidity. Though adenovirus is a common cause of LRTI in children, it rarely causes pneumonia in immunocompetent adults. Due to this, there is neither much medical literature nor standardised therapy for adenovirus pneumonia. We report a 35-year-old immunocompetent woman who developed adenovirus pneumonia with hypoxemic respiratory failure. She was managed with ribavirin and corticosteroids. Though cidofovir has demonstrated potential efficacy, its clinical use is limited by cost, availability and significant renal and haematologic toxicity. The documented potential therapeutic effects of ribavirin and steroids are restricted to a few case reports. The patient demonstrated an excellent response to corticosteroid therapy, making it a potential therapeutic tool to manage severe adenovirus pneumonia.