what is the legionnaires disease and where does it orignate from, how it's spread, symptoms and treatment.
legionnaires disease is a severe lung infection and a form of atypical pneumonia. it's caused by the legionella bacteria (legionella pneumophila). legionellosis is any disease caused by the legionella bacteria this includes the above and pontiac fever. the bacteria is commonly found in fresh water, it can be a contaminant in hot tubs, hot water tanks and cooling towers. it is spread by being breathed in mist that contains the bacteria. it usually does not spread between people. patients with COPD, hisotry of smoking and poor immune function are more at risk for legionnaires. it is diagnosed via a sputum culture (test using sputum from the lungs) and a urinary antigen test. there is no vaccine available. prevention of the disease is dependent on proper maintenance of water systems.
what are the symptoms? the time between exposure and appearance of symptoms is generally between 2 to 10 days. fevers, dry cough and chills. the cough may also produce sputum. all patients experience fever while half of the patients cough with sputum and one third with bloodly sputum. muscle aches, tiredness, ataxia, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches and loss of appetite are other symptoms.
treatment includes antibiotics such as macrolides, ketolides, quinolones, tetracyclines. current drugs include respiratory tract quinolones: levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gemifloxacin. or new macrolides: azithromycin, roxithromycin and clarithromycin.