What is legionnaires disease?
Legionnaires' disease is an acute form of pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs). It is caused by a bacteria called Legionella. Most people become infected by inhaling the bacteria from water or soil. The elderly, smokers and people with weak immune systems are at high risk of developing Legionnaires' disease.
It should be noted that Legionella bacteria also cause a flu-like disease known medically as Pontiac fever. Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever are together referred to as legionellosis.
Pontiac fever is self-healing and rarely requires specific medical intervention, but Legionnaires' disease is a more severe form and if the pathological process is not managed in time, it can be fatal.
Timely antibiotic therapy is effective in alleviating the disease, although some patients still have some symptoms even after the end of the course of treatment.
The disease usually develops 2-10 days after the Legionella bacterium enters the body.
At the initial stage, the following symptoms are manifested:
- Headache;
- Muscle pain;
- High fever.
On the second or third day, the following symptoms appear:
- Coughing (the patient coughs up blood and mucus);
- Shortness of breath;
- Chest pain;
- Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea;
- Confusion or other mental complaints.
Legionnaires' disease mainly affects the lungs, but in some clinical cases, it becomes the cause of infections in a completely different part of the body.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/legionnaires-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20351747
