General Information About Legionnaires' Disease
Disease Details and Frequently Asked Questions
It is a severe lung infection (pneumonia) with deadly potential caused by the Legionella bacterium in the lungs.
The bacterium multiplies in the water tanks of air conditioners in hotels, hospitals, or large buildings, as well as in jacuzzis, and is transmitted by being sprayed into the air from the ventilation.
No. The disease is transmitted only by inhaling water droplets harboring the bacterium from the air; it does not pass from an infected person to another.
Suddenly rising fever, chills, dry or bloody sputum cough, muscle aches, diarrhea, and confusion.
Pneumonia findings are seen on a chest X-ray. Definitive diagnosis is made with the Legionella Antigen Test checked in the urine and sputum culture.
It is resistant to common antibiotics. It is treated in the hospital intravenously with specific antibiotics from the macrolide or fluoroquinolone groups.
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