Legionnaire's Disease and its Mimics: A Clinical Perspective.
Whenever the cardinal manifestations of a disorder occur in similar disorders, there is potential for a disease mimic. Legionnaire's disease has protean manifestations and has the potential to mimic or be mimicked by other community acquired pneumonias (CAPs). In CAPs caused by other than Legionella species, the more characteristic features in common with legionnaire's disease the more difficult the diagnostic conundrum. In hospitalized adults with CAP, legionnaire's disease may mimic influenza or other viral pneumonias. Of the bacterial causes of CAP, psittacosis and Q fever, but not tularemia, are frequent mimics of legionnaire's disease.
Infectious Disease Division, Winthrop-University Hospital, 222 Station Plaza North, #432, Mineola, NY 11501, USA; School of Medicine, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, USA. Electronic address: bacunha@winthrop.org.
Burke A
BA
Cunha
Division of Infectious Disease, Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
Cheston B
CB
Cunha
D017714:Community-Acquired Infections; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D011014:Pneumonia; D009956:Psittacosis; D011778:Q Fever; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic
Adenovirus; HPIV-3; Influenza like illnesses (ILIs); Mimics; Psittacosis; Q fever