Legionnaire's disease

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Legionnaires' disease organism, legionella

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Legionnaire's disease

Alternative Names:

Legionella pneumonia; Pontiac fever

Symptoms:

Muscle aches and stiffness
Joint pain
Loss of energy
General discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling (malaise)
Headache
Fever
Shaking chills
Nonproductive cough
Coughing of blood
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Diarrhea
Ataxia (lack of coordination)

Signs and tests:

Listening to the chest with a stethoscope reveals fine crackles.
Sputum direct fluorescent antibody staining shows Legionella.
The causative organism may be cultured from the airway.
Urine tests for the bacteria (urine antigen test) may be positive.
Chest X-ray shows pneumonia.
Arterial blood gas analysis may show low concentrations of oxygen.
CBC shows an increased white blood cell count.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate is increased.
Low serum sodium.
Liver function tests may show moderate elevation.

Review Date: 8/11/2003
Reviewed By: Daniel Levy, M.D., Ph.D., Infectious Diseases, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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