Disease relevance of Legionnaires' Disease

• Intracellular multiplication of Legionnaires' disease bacteria (Legionella pneumophila) in human monocytes is reversibly inhibited by erythromycin and rifampin [1].
• These cases of Legionnaires' disease show the occurrence of pulmonary abscesses, the possibility of relapse after giving only 2 weeks of erythromycin therapy, and the utility of direct immunofluorescence for early diagnosis [2].
• Data on sporadic cases of Legionnaires' disease in Great Britain reported to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, London, and the Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit, Glasgow, were analysed [3].
• Pulmonary function after adult respiratory distress syndrome associated with Legionnaires' disease pneumonia [4].
• Paired sera from victims of Legionnaires' disease showed, in many cases, significant rises in immunoglobulin G antibodies to both the causative agent (LA) of Legionnaires' disease and Chlamydia psittaci, but concurrent rises in immunoglobulin M antibodies only against LA [5].

High impact information on Legionnaires' Disease

• There were no significant differences in the concentrations of nickel, copper, bromine, rubidium, lead, barium, or titanium in the serums of Legionnaires' disease and control patients [6].
• MCMP has potential as a vaccine against Legionnaires' disease [7].
• This study indicates that patients with Legionnaires' disease under treatment with erythromycin and rifampin require host defenses to eliminate L. pneumophila, and that inadequate host defenses may result in relapse after cessation of therapy [1].
• Exposure to whirlpool spas was strongly associated with disease (odds ratio 16.2, 95% Cl 2.8-351:7); risk of acquiring Legionnaires' disease increased by 64% (95% Cl 12-140) for every hour spent in the spa water [8].
• Treatment of experimental Legionnaires' disease by aerosol administration of rifampicin, ciprofloxacin, and erythromycin [9].

Chemical compound and disease context of Legionnaires' Disease

• Imipenem in Legionnaires' disease [10].
• Legionnaires' disease treated with doxycycline [11].
• Minocycline in legionnaires' disease [12].
• Diaminopimelic acid was absent in the Legionnaires' disease bacterium peptidoglycan [13].
• A diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease was also suggested by an elevated serum creatinine phosphokinase level (P = 0.02) and the presence of occult blood in the urine with fewer than six erythrocytes per highpower field [14].

Biological context of Legionnaires' Disease

• Thus, we conclude that the entry gene rtxA is an important virulence determinant in L. pneumophila and is likely to be critical for the production of Legionnaires' disease in humans [15].
• In this study, we sought genes that are involved in virulence by screening a genomic DNA library of an L. pneumophila strain, 80-045, with convalescent-phase sera of Legionnaires' disease patients [16].
• The number of therapeutic failures with erythromycin, as well as the side-effects and drug interactions, led to the consideration of other drugs such as the new macrolides and quinolones for the treatment of legionnaire's disease in the 1990s [17].
• Cellular immunity in typhoid fever, Legionnaires' disease, amebiasis: role of transfer factor and Levamisole in typhoid fever [18].

Anatomical context of Legionnaires' Disease

• The lack of reactivity with negative control sera and strong reactivity from a small group of patients in whom seroconversion was demonstrated has led us to conclude that formolised yolk-sac antigen is a reliable antigen for the diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease by the FA method [19].
• The standard selective Legionella medium that contains cefamandole failed to grow legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, subtype Bellingham, from a sputum sample from a patient with nosocomial Legionnaires' disease; the isolate did grow on a similar selective medium that substitutes vancomycin for cefamandole [20].

Gene context of Legionnaires' Disease

• The in vivo role of endogenous interleukin-18 (IL-18) in modulating gamma interferon (IFN-gamma)-mediated resolution of replicative Legionella pneumophila lung infection was assessed using a murine model of Legionnaires' disease [21].
• The indirect fluorescent antibody test and a microhemagglutination technique detected antibodies in human sera to Legionnaires' disease antigen about equally [22].
• Sporadic cases of Legionnaires' disease in Great Britain [3].
• In view of the recent significant increase in the number of reported cases of Legionnaires' disease and other intracellular infections, these structural results are of prime interest for the design of new drugs directed against Mip proteins of intracellular pathogens [23].
• Legionnaires' disease in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus [24].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Legionnaires' Disease

• Erythromycin and rifampicin (rifampin) were able to prevent death of guineapigs given intraperitoneal injections of the agent causing legionnaires' disease [25].
• A fatal relapse of legionnaires' disease occurred coincidental with the initiation of chemotherapy in a patient who had received previous parenteral erythromycin gluceptate therapy for 30 days [26].
• Tigecycline was effective at preventing death from pneumonia in an animal model of Legionnaires' disease, warranting human clinical trials of the drug for the disease [27].
• Intravenous azithromycin as salvage therapy in a patient with Legionnaire's disease [28].
• From July 1, 1983 to April 30, 1984, erythromycin prophylaxis (1.5-3 g/day by mouth) was administered during 39 episodes of high-dose immunosuppression (20 kidney graft recipients and 4 patients with systemic diseases); no cases of Legionnaire's disease were recorded [29].

References