Legionnaires' disease also Legionnaire's disease n pneumonia that is caused by a bacterium of the genus Legionella (L. pneumophila), that is characterized initially by symptoms resembling influenza (as malaise, headache, and muscular aches) followed by high fever, cough, diarrhea, lobar pneumonia, and mental confusion, and that may be fatal esp. in elderly and immunocompromised individuals see PONTIAC FEVER
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an infection of the lungs caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila, named after an outbreak at the American Legion convention in Pennsylvania in 1976. Legionella organisms are widely found in water; outbreaks of the disease have been associated with defective central heating, air conditioning, and other ventilating systems. Symptoms appear after an incubation period of 2-10 days: malaise and muscle pain are succeeded by a fever, dry cough, chest pain, and breathlessness. X-ray of the lungs shows patchy consolidation. Erythromycin provides the most effective therapy.
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an acute, sometimes fatal, bacterial disease caused by infection with Legionella pneumophila, not spread by person-to-person contact; it is characterized by pneumonia, high fever, gastrointestinal pain, headache, and sometimes involvement of the kidneys, liver, or nervous system.Medical dictionary. 2011.