Severe Pneumonia Caused by Legionella pneumophila: Differential Diagnosis and Therapeutic Considerations.
Severe legionella pneumonia poses a diagnostic challenge and requires early intervention. Legionnaire's disease can have several presenting signs, symptoms, and laboratory abnormalities that suggest that Legionella pneumophila is the pathogen, but none of these are sufficient to distinguish L pneumophila pneumonia from other respiratory pathogens. L pneumophila is primarily an intracellular pathogen and needs treatment with antibiotics that efficiently enter the intracellular space.
Critical Care Division, Miriam Hospital, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA; Infectious Disease Division, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA. Electronic address: Abdullah_Chahin@brown.edu.
Abdullah
A
Chahin
Critical Care Division, Miriam Hospital, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA; Infectious Disease Division, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
Steven M
SM
Opal
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D016952:Legionella pneumophila; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
Hospital-acquired pneumonia; Legionella pneumophila; Legionella pneumophila outbreaks; Legionnaire’s disease; Pneumonia complications; Severe community-acquired pneumonia