COVID-19 infection presenting with acute epiglottitis

Fondaw, Alexander; Arshad, Muzamil; Batool, Saba; Robinson, Brenton; Patel, Toral

In this case report, we present a novel presentation of acute epiglottitis in a patient with severe acute respiratory syndrome—coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) who presented to the emergency room in extremis and respiratory failure requiring emergent cricothyrotomy. Epiglottitis has become less common since the introduction and widespread use of the Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine. This reduction in cases has shifted demographics of the disease from the pediatric population towards adults with comorbid conditions. Interestingly there is a high degree of overlap between many of the comorbidities between epiglottitis and COVID-19. The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome—coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also referred to as coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), has been reported to affect the gastrointestinal tract and neural tissue and has been implicated in necrotizing encephalitis. We report the first known case of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus presenting with acute epiglottitis.