title: Legionella pneumonia and HIV: case reports and review of the literature.
abstract: Although Legionnaires' disease occurs more commonly in patients with some degree of immunosuppression (diabetes, chronic lung disease, end stage renal disease, cancer, etc.), it has been infrequently described in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. Some studies suggest that pneumonia caused by Legionella tends to present with more severe clinical features and complications in the HIV-infected population. The use of antibiotic prophylaxis or the association of severe pneumonia with other pathogens may account for under diagnosis of the disease. We diagnosed five cases of Legionella pneumonia in patients with HIV infection at our institution during a 1-year period. The cases seen ranged in severity, regardless of the CD4(+) counts of the patients. Based on our observations, it seems impossible to discern whether HIV infection is an additional risk factor for Legionnaires' disease. We describe those five cases and review the available literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center New York, New York 10025, USA. us2119@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Uriel
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sandkovsky
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sandkovsky
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Polsky
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents