title: Legionellosis.
abstract: Community-acquired legionnaires' disease (CALD) has dramatically increased in the Legionella urinary antigen (LUA) era. However, its incidence in each country depends on the specific techniques used for the diagnosis of LD and the mandatory reporting of cases to the local health surveillance system. Moreover, the most recent studies have demonstrated that no clinical data are discriminative enough for the diagnosis of LD. Clinical differences have been observed in sporadic and outbreak-reported cases demonstrating that the earlier the diagnosis of Legionella infection, the more nonspecific the clinical appearance. Fluoroquinolones are the most efficacious drugs against Legionella. The combination of these drugs with azithromycin seems to be promising in the treatment of patients with severe LD. Although outbreaks of LD will continue, the most important objective of the public health authorities should be to reduce their number and size.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain. mlpbotet@ns.hugtip.scs.es
authors.forename: M Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pedro-Botet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sabrià
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017963:Azithromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007875:Legionella / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D017963:Azithromycin