Welcome to Dr. Atiq's Knowledge Academy
Legionnaires Disease
What is the cause?
Legionnaires' is caused by Legionella pneumophila. The disease and the bacterium were discovered following an outbreak in 1976. Legionnaires' Disease is a type of pneumonia or lung infection. It causes 2% of pneumonia cases that need hospital treatment.
It can only be transmitted from contaminated water systems when a person breathes in water droplets. Common sources include the cooling towers of air conditioning systems, fountains and ponds, and communal showers where the bacterium is usually found in the showerhead.
Over 40 different strains of the Legionella germ have now been discovered.
Occurrences are more common in late summer and early autumn.
What are the symptoms?
Legionnaires' causes a flu-like illness with fever, headache, muscle aches and a dry cough. There may be chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, and hallucinations. Pneumonia can also develop.
It usually affects middle-aged or elderly people and smokers or people with other chest problems.
The symptoms start 2-10 days after first being infected.
They include:
- high fever with sweating
- severe headache
- shortness of breath
- pain in the side of the chest which results from the infection involving the pleura (the membranes that line the outside of the lungs)
- a worsening cough, with greenish thick mucous (can be blood stained)
Joint pain and muscle weakness is also fairly common. These symptoms may last for months or, which is less common, for one to two years. In the UK about 200 cases are reported each year. Up to 15 per cent of those affected will die from the infection.
Who is affected?
Men are affected more than women, particularly middle-aged men. About three-quarters of all British cases occur as isolated instances rather than as epidemics. In most of these cases the source of the germs is not found. Smoking, alcohol misuse, chronic lung disease and weakened immunity all increase the risk of a person developing the infection following exposure.
What is the treatment?
Antibiotics are effective in treating the disease. Oxygen may be given if you have breathing difficulties. Intensive care with ventilation may be necessary if the pneumonia is severe.
The risk of catching Legionnaires' can be reduced with appropriate maintenance and cleaning of possible sources, such as air conditioning systems.
|
