Acute psychosis associated with recent SARS-CoV-2 infection: A case report

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created overwhelming circumstances not only in the medical field, but in other walks of life. SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of COVID-19 [1], primarily affects the respiratory system leading to respiratory illnesses of varying severity ranging from mild flu-like symptoms to acute respiratory distress syndrome [2]. However, the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are not limited to the respiratory system [3]. There is a growing body of literature showing the incidence of a varying clinical spectrum of neuropsychiatric manifestations in a significant proportion of COVID-19 patients [4]. With the variability in neuropsychiatric presentation of COVID- 19, multiple mechanisms have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology of these presentations [5]. In this case report, we present a 20-year-old female with no significant respiratory symptoms or previous history of psychotic episodes who manifested with acute psychosis as a significant complication of COVID-19.