Legionnaires\u2019 disease is a pneumonia caused by Legionella<\/em> bacteria. An outbreak of this disease among persons attending a state convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia in 1976 led to its name. However, it was not a new disease; the earliest documented case was in 1947. Although cases occur all year long, both single cases and outbreaks occur more frequently in the summer and fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People with Legionnaires\u2019 disease often have flu-like symptoms with muscle aches, headache, loss of appetite, and dry cough. Fevers are often between 102\u00b0-105\u00b0F and some people have stomach cramps and diarrhea. Chest X-ray usually shows pneumonia. Symptoms usually begin 2-10 days after a person is infected with the bacteria. Another illness caused by Legionella<\/em> bacteria is called Pontiac Fever. It consists of fever, headache, weakness and muscle ache, usually lasts for 2-5 days, and there is no pneumonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bacteria are found normally in many places in the environment. A common source is water. Outbreaks have been related to contaminated air-conditioning cooling towers, but NOT window air conditioners. The bacteria also have been found in hot and cold-water taps, showers, whirlpool baths, creeks, ponds and wet soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People get Legionnaires\u2019 disease by breathing in the Legionella<\/em> bacteria, usually carried by mist. It is NOT spread from one person to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because Legionnaires\u2019 disease can cause symptoms similar to the \u201cflu\u201d and other kinds of pneumonia, it can take longer to diagnose. A number of different laboratory tests to identify Legionella<\/em> can be done on blood, urine, respiratory secretions (sputum) and lung tissue. Your doctor can order these tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone can get Legionnaires\u2019 disease but it is more common among the elderly and those with impaired immune systems or underlying diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be for people over 50 years of age or smokers, or those who have impaired immune systems due to underlying diseases (e.g., cancer, kidney failure, diabetes, HIV infection, chronic lung disease or heart failure) or medications (e.g., steroids, chemotherapy). Studies have shown that 5-30% of people diagnosed with Legionnaires\u2019 disease die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legionnaires\u2019 disease is usually treated with antibiotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Measures can be taken to reduce the likelihood of exposure. For example, large air conditioning systems with cooling towers and evaporative condensers should be operated and maintained according to manufacturers\u2019 recommendations. Because Legionella<\/em> bacteria are found throughout the environment, testing potential sources is not recommended when individual cases occur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is Legionnaires\u2019 disease? Legionnaires\u2019 disease is a pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria. An outbreak of this disease among persons attending a state convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia in 1976 led to its name. However, it was not a new disease; the earliest documented case was in 1947. Although cases occur all year long, both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4527,"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4526\/revisions\/4527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.georgiaemsacademy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What are the symptoms of Legionnaires\u2019 disease?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Where are Legionella bacteria found?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How is Legionnaires\u2019 disease spread?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How is Legionnaires\u2019 disease diagnosed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Who gets Legionnaires\u2019 disease?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Is Legionnaires\u2019 disease a serious illness?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How is Legionnaires\u2019 disease treated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can Legionnaires\u2019 disease be prevented?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n