Legionellosis is an infection caused by species of the Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria is also the fictional name of a warring nation under Benzino Napaloni as dictator, in the 1940 film The Great Dictator... bacterium Species Legionella adelaidensis Legionella anisa Legionella beliardensis Legionella birminghamensis Legionella brunensis Legionella busanensis Legionella cherrii Legionella cincinnatiensis Legionella donaldsonii Legionella drancourtii Legionella drozanskii Legionella erythra Legionella fairfieldensis Legionella fallonii Legionella feeleii Legionella geestiana Legionella gratiana Legionella gresilensis Legionella hackeliae Legionella israelensis Legionella jamestowniensis Legionella jordanis Legionella lansingensis Legionella londiniensis Legionella... Legionella, most notably L. pneumophila. At least 46 In biology, a species is a kind of organism. Loosely speaking, a species is a related group of organisms that share a more or less distinctive form and are capable of interbreeding. As defined by Ernst Mayr, species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively... species and 70 serogroups have been identified. L. pneumophila, an ubiquitous aquatic organism that thrives in warm environments (32°- 45°C) causes over 90% of Legionnaires Disease in the United States.

The disease has two distinct forms:

• Legionnaires' disease is the name for the more severe form of infection which includes Pneumonia (the ancient Greek word for lungs) is defined as an infection involving the alveoli of the lungs. It occurs in patients of all age groups, but young children and the elderly, as well as immunocompromised and immune deficient patients, are especially at risk. Causal therapy is with antibiotics. Signs... pneumonia
• Pontiac fever is a Mild can refer to A type of beer popular in the UK - the opposite of bitter. For many years, the story ran that mild was made from the drips of other beers. Despite this, it had its afficionados. Now, so they say, mild has been fixed, but will never be... milder respiratory illness without pneumonia caused by the same bacterium

Legionnaires' disease acquired its name in 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January-February January 12 - UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 - Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison January 16... 1976 when an outbreak of Pneumonia (the ancient Greek word for lungs) is defined as an infection involving the alveoli of the lungs. It occurs in patients of all age groups, but young children and the elderly, as well as immunocompromised and immune deficient patients, are especially at risk. Causal therapy is with antibiotics. Signs... pneumonia occurred among persons attending a convention of the The American Legion is an organization of veterans of the United States armed forces who served in wartime. In addition to organizing commemorative events and volunteer activities, the American Legion is active in US politics. Its primary political activity is lobbying for the interests of veterans, including support for veteran... American Legion in This article refers to the largest city of Pennsylvania. For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) Independence Hall Philadelphia (often referred to as Philly) is the sixth-largest city in the United States and the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, occupying all of Philadelphia County.6 As of the... Philadelphia. Later, the bacterium causing the illness was named Legionella.

On January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 347 days remaining (348 in leap years) Events 350 - General Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans, proclaims himself Emperor. 474 - Leo II becomes briefly Byzantine emperor 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople fail. 1520 - King Christian II... January 18, For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January-February January 1 - First woman Episcopal priest ordained. January 6 - EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious legionnaires disease January 18 - Australia experiences its worst railway disaster... 1977 scientists identified a previously unknown Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria is also the fictional name of a warring nation under Benzino Napaloni as dictator, in the 1940 film The Great Dictator... bacterium as the cause of the mysterious "Legionnaires' disease."

An estimated 8,000 to 18,000 people get Legionnaires' disease in the United States each year. Some people can be infected with the Legionella bacterium and have mild symptoms or no illness at all.

Outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease receive significant media attention. However, this disease usually occurs as a single, isolated case not associated with any recognized outbreak. When outbreaks do occur, they are usually recognized in the summer and early fall, but cases may occur year-round. About 5% to 30% of people who have Legionnaires' disease die.

What are the usual symptoms of legionellosis?

Patients with Legionnaires' disease usually have fever, chills, and a cough, which may be dry or may produce sputum. Some patients also have muscle aches, headache, tiredness, loss of appetite, and, occasionally, diarrhea. Laboratory tests may show that these patients' kidneys are not functioning properly. Chest X-rays often show pneumonia. It is difficult to distinguish Legionnaires' disease from other types of pneumonia by symptoms alone; other tests are required for diagnosis.

Persons with Pontiac fever experience fever and muscle aches and do not have pneumonia. They generally recover in 2 to 5 days without treatment.

The time between the patient's exposure to the bacterium and the onset of illness for Legionnaires' disease is 2 to 10 days; for Pontiac fever, it is shorter, generally a few hours to 2 days.

Infections

Intestinal Infections: These may only occur as part of respiratory infections, where gastrointestinal symptoms have on occasion been described.

Extraintestinal Infections: L. pneumophila is specifically considered as a pathogen of the respiratory tract, where it is a cause of atypical pneumonia, also known as Legionnaires' disease. Other infections have also been reported, including haemodialysis fistulae, Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium. Signs and Symptoms Chest pain, radiating to the back and relieved by sitting up forward, is the classical presentation. Generalised ST-elevations on ECG may be recorded. Causes Coxsackie viral infection Tuberculosis Uremia Malignancy (paraneoplastic phenomenon) lupus idiopathic Treatment The treatment in viral or... pericarditis and wound and skin infections. Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood, and is the means by which local infections spread hematogenously to distant organs. It is typically transient rather than continuous, which is why blood cultures must be repeated at intervals to determine if bacteremia is or is not present. Hematogenous dissemination... Bacteraemia is often associated with Legionnaires' disease.

Animal Infections: None specifically recorded. Infections of Protozoa: Protozoa such as Harmanella vermiformis and related protozoa have been shown to be able to support the growth of L. pneumophila in tap water. Also Acanthamoeba, Naegleria and Tetrahymena can be infected by L. pneumophila. It is considered that this may be how these fastidious organisms survive in the environment.

How is legionellosis diagnosed?

The Diagnosis (from the Greek words dia = by and gnosis = knowledge) is the process of identifying a disease by its signs, symptoms and results of various diagnostic procedures. The conclusion reached through that process is also called a diagnosis. Typically, someone with abnormal symptoms will consult a physician, who will then... diagnosis of legionellosis requires special tests not routinely performed on persons with fever or pneumonia. Therefore, a physician must consider the possibility of legionellosis in order to obtain the right tests.

Several types of tests are available. The most useful tests detect the bacteria in sputum, find Legionella antigens in urine samples, or compare antibody levels to Legionella in two blood samples obtained 3 to 6 weeks apart.

Who gets legionellosis?

People of any age may get Legionnaires' diasease, but the illness most often affects middle-aged and older persons, particularly those who smoke cigarettes or have chronic lung disease. Also at increased risk are persons whose immune system is suppressed by diseases such as cancer, kidney failure requiring dialysis, diabetes, or AIDS. Those that take drugs that suppress the immune system are also at higher risk.

Pontiac fever most commonly occurs in persons who are otherwise healthy.

Treatment of legionellosis

The current treatment of choice are the respiratory tract Quinolones and fluoroquinolones form a group of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are highly potent and considered relatively safe. However, they can have potentially troublesome side effects. For example, case reports have implicated their use in rare instances of tendon damage, especially when administered with a systemic corticosteroid. Mechanism Quinolones... quinolones (levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gemifloxacin) or newer The macrolides are a group of drugs (typically antibiotics) whose activity stems from the presence of a macrolide ring, a large lactone ring to which one or more deoxy sugars, usually cladinose and desosamine, are attached. The lactone ring can be either 14, 15 or 16-membered. Macrolides belong to... macrolides (azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin). The An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics are one class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic drugs. They are relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat infection. The term... antibiotics used most frequently have been levofloxacin and azithromycin. Rifampin can be used in combination with with a quinolone or macrolide. Tetracyclines and Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic which has an antimicrobial spectrum similar or slightly wider to that of penicillin, and is often used for people who have an allergy to penicillins. For respiratory tract infections, it has better coverage of atypical organisms, including mycoplasma. It is also used to treat outbreaks... erythromycin led to improved outcome compared to other antibiotics in the original American Legion outbreak. These antibiotics are effective because they have excellent intracellular penetration since legionella infects cells. The mortality at original 1976 Anerican Legion convention in 1976 was high (34 deaths in 180 infected individuals) because the antibiotics used including Penicillin is a β-lactam antibiotic used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms. The name penicillin can either refer to several variants of penicillin available, or to the group of antibiotics derived from the penicillins. Penicillin nucleus Penicillin has a molecular formula R... penicillins, cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides had poor intracellular penetration. Mortality has plunged to less than 5% if therapy is started quickly. Delay in giving the appropriate antibiotic leads to higher mortality.

Legionellosis is an infection caused by species of the bacterium Legionella, most notably . At least 46 species and 70 serogroups have been identified. , an ubiquitous aquatic organism that thrives in warm environments (32°- 45°C) causes over 90% of Legionnaires Disease in the United States. The disease has two distinct... Pontiac fever requires no specific antibiotic Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία) or treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis. Some therapeutic methodologies from Western medicine, Eastern medicine (especially traditional Chinese medicine), and alternative health care include: acupuncture aromatherapy colour therapy crystal healing drug therapy... treatment.

How is legionellosis spread?

Legionellosis infection occurs after persons have breathed mists that come from a water source (e.g., air conditioning cooling towers, whirlpool spas, showers) contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Persons may be exposed to these mists in homes, workplaces, hospitals, or public places. Legionellosis is not passed from person to person, and there is no evidence of persons becoming infected from auto air conditioners or household window air-conditioning units.

Legionella Longbeachae, one species in the Legionella family, is found in soils, and compost. Persons inhaling soil or compost dust containing Legionella Longbeachae risk contracting Legionnaires' Disease.

Where is the Legionella bacterium found?

Legionella organisms can be found in many types of water systems. However, the bacteria reproduce to high numbers in warm, stagnant water (90°-105° F, 32°-40° C), such as that found in certain plumbing systems and hot water tanks, cooling towers and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, and whirlpool spas. Cases of legionellosis have been identified throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. It is believed to occur worldwide.

What is being done to prevent legionellosis?

Improved design and maintenance of cooling towers and plumbing systems to limit the growth and spread of Legionella organisms are the foundations of legionellosis This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. If the page can be expanded into an encyclopedic article, rather than a dictionary definition, please do so and remove this message. Otherwise, you can help by formatting it per the Wiktionary guidelines in preparation for the move. The act... prevention.

During outbreaks, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta is recognized as the lead United States agency for protecting the public health and safety of people by providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. CDC focuses... CDC and health department investigators seek to identify the source of disease transmission and recommend appropriate prevention and control measures, such as decontamination of the water source. Current research will likely identify additional prevention strategies.

World's more important outbreaks

In For alternative meanings, see March (disambiguation). March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. March begins (astrologically, non-sidereal) with the sun in the sign of Pisces and ends in the sign of Aries... March, 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. Events Kosovo War Shooting in Littleton, Colorado, United States, leaves several high school students dead. Y2K preparation was a major event in 1999 both in... 1999 an outbreak in the The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). The Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, located in northwestern Europe. It borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the... Netherlands occurred during a flower exhibition in Stede Broec is a municipality in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The name Stede Broec derives from stede (meaning city) and broec (meaning swamp). Population centers Since January 1, 1979 the municipality consists of the villages Bovenkarspel (population as of 2003: 10,618), Grootebroek (8... Bovenkarspel. 200 people became ill and at least 32 people died. Probably more people died, but these were buried before the Legionella infection was recognized. The source of the bacteria were probably a This article is about the water movement, whirlpool. For other uses, please see Whirlpool (disambiguation). Saltstraumen off Norway A whirlpool is a large, swirling body of water produced by ocean tides. In popular imagination, but only rarely in reality they can have the dangerous effects of destroying boats. In the... whirlpool and a Moisturizers are a complex mixture of chemical agents specially designed to make softer and more pliable the external layers of the skin (epidermis), by increasing its hydration (water content). Naturally occurring skin lipids and sterols as well as artificial or natural oils, humectants, emollients. lubricants, etc. may be part of... moisturizer in the exhibition area.

The world's largest outbreak of legionnaries' disease happened in July 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. By strict interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, 2001 is also the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millenium. Popular culture, however, often views the year 2000 as holding this distinction. 2001 is also the year... 2001 (the patients began to go to the hospital on July 7), in Murcia is a city in southeastern Spain, and is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, on the Segura river. Population of the city of Murcia proper was 391,000 as of 2003 estimates. Population of the urban area was 485,000 as of 2000 estimates. Population of the... Murcia, The Kingdom of Spain or Spain ( Spanish: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma; Galician: Reino da España) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. To the... Spain, where more than 800 suspected cases were recorded by July 22, when the last case was treated; 636–696 of these cases were estimated and 449 confirmed (so, at least 16,000 persons were exposed to the bacterium) and 6 dead (this is, a case-fatality rate of aprox. 1%.).

A case-control study matching 85 patients living outside the city of Murcia with two controls each was undertaken to identify the outbreak source; the epidemiologic investigation implicated the cooling towers at a city hospital (Morales Meseguer Hospital). An environmental isolate from these towers with an identical molecular A pattern is a form, template, or model (or, more abstractly, a set of rules) which can be used to make or to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are generated have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred or discerned... pattern as the clinical isolates was subsequently identified and supported that epidemiologic conclusion.

In 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: September 2004 in sports Deaths in September • 27 Tsai Wan-lin • 24 Françoise Sagan • 20 Brian Clough • 18 Russ Meyer • 15 Johnny Ramone • 12 Fred Ebb •... September 2004, it was revealed in an article in the magazine Science is the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Science was founded by Thomas Edison in 1880. Science became the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1900. A major concern of the journal is recent research findings. Science is also... "Science" that the complete Genome is also a popular science book by Matt Ridley. In biology the genome of an organism is the whole hereditary information of an organism that is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). This includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences. More precisely, the genome... genome of Legionella pneumophila has been unraveled. This will help researchers to find out how exactly the bacterium works and how people can be protected against Infection is also the title of an episode of the television series Babylon 5; see Infection (Babylon 5). An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. The colonizing organism interferes with the normal functioning and perhaps the survival of the host. The infecting organism... infection.

In 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom Events January Euro banknotes in circulation throughout the twelve countries of the European Union that... 2002 Barrow-in-Furness is a town in Cumbria, England. It is the main town in the borough of Barrow_in_Furness, with a population of 71,980 (2001 census [1]). Barrow dates from the 19th century and owes its existence to shipbuilding. It is one of the few remaining shipyards in the... Barrow suffered the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the British Commonwealth and European Union. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts... UK's worst outbreak of legionnaires' disease. Six women and one man were died as a result of the illness, another 172 people also contracted the disease. The caused was found to be faulty air conditioning at the town's Forum 28 arts centre.

Images

• http://www.repower.ch/INimg/Newsletter/legionella.jpg
• http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38922000/jpg/_38922367_legionella203.jpg
• http://www.microscopyconsulting.com/Gallery/images/Legionella%20pneumophila.jpg
• http://www.chemistryquestion.com/images/Question/legionella.jpg
• http://www.biotestusa.com/diagnostic/legionella.jpg

References

• Harrison's textbook of medicine and Mandell's infectious disease textbook (5th edition), New Engl J Med 1997
• Legionella.org (http://www.legionella.org) by Victor L Yu, Pofessor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

External links

• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/legionellosis_t.htm
• http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iii/otm_iii_7.html
• http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hblegion.htm
• http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/legion.html
• Legionella; Murcia- Spain 28th June to 14th July 2001; the world's largest outbreak of legionnaries'disease (http://www.multiline.com.au/~mg/legionella.Murcia.Spain1.html).
• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no8/03-0337.htm