Legionnaires disease (LD), caused by Gram-negative Legionella spp., can be nosocomial, community acquired or travel related. L. pneumophila is the most common cause of LD. The source of LD is potable water systems that become colonized by the microorganism, transmitted by inhalation of contaminated aerosols and aspiration. Classically, it can cause two different forms of disease in humans: LD, with an incubation period of 2-10 days, which is a multisystem illness that involves the lungs, causing pneumonia, and can cause neurological symptoms, diarrhea and high mortality (up to 50%), and Pontiac fever, with a shorter incubation period of 1-2 days, which is an acute, self-limited, influenza-like disease that does not cause pneumonia. Patients who are at risk for infection include the immunosuppressed, especially those submitted to transplantation (mainly of solid organs), those with chronic lung disease, smokers, and the elderly.
Category
Bacterial infectious disease
Brite
Human diseases in ICD-11 classification [BR:br08403]
01 Certain infectious or parasitic diseases
Other bacterial diseases
1C19 Legionellosis
H00311 Legionellosis
Pathway-based classification of diseases [BR:br08402]
Immune system
nt06517 TLR signaling
H00311 Legionellosis
Genome-based classification of infectious diseases [BR:br08401]
Bacterial infections
Infections caused by other gamma proteobacteria
H00311 Legionellosis
Infectious diseases by law in Japan [br08406.html]
H00311
