What bacterial infection ICD-10 codes can I use?
Bacterial infections are caused by harmful bacterial agents that can invade various parts of the body and lead to numerous infectious and parasitic diseases. Other bacterial intestinal infections conditions range from skin infections to systemic illnesses such as gram negative sepsis or toxic shock syndrome.
The A49 category is used for viral infections of unspecified site. Please note that type 1 excludes other forms such as bacterial agents causing diseases classified elsewhere (B95–B96), chlamydial infection NOS (A74.9), meningococcal infection NOS (A39.9), rickettsial infection NOS (A79.9), and spirochetal infection NOS (A69.9).
The basic code for this is A49.9 - Bacterial infection, unspecified. This is meant to be used on patients confirmed to have a bacterial infection, but the specific kind of bacteria hasn’t been identified.
Once you have identified the specific kind of bacteria that caused the infection, please use the appropriate ICD-10 code from the following:
- A49.01 – Methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infection, unspecified site: Applies to MSSA-related bacterial diseases without an identified site.
- A49.02 – Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, unspecified site: Represents MRSA, a serious cause of diseases classified under resistant bacterial infections, without a known location.
- A49.1 – Streptococcal infection, unspecified site: Includes Streptococcus pneumoniae infections when the site is not recorded.
- A49.2 – Haemophilus influenzae infection, unspecified site: Typically linked to respiratory or central nervous system infections.
- A49.3 – Mycoplasma infection, unspecified site: Affects various systems, including respiratory, but may be coded here if the site remains unspecified.
If the specific strain of bacteria doesn’t fit these ICD-10 codes, please use A49.8 - Other bacterial infections of unspecified site. This code is meant for bacterial infection types that don’t have specific ICD-10 codes.