Many new infectious diseases have been identified in the United States during the last several decades (1). Among these are AIDS, Legionnaires’ disease, toxic-shock syndrome, hepatitis C, and most recently, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome; all caused serious illness and death. In each instance, the disease was recognized through investigation of illness for which no cause had been identified. Ret...

Legionella pneumophila, the agent of Legionnaires' disease, is a facultative intracellular pathogen (1). The bacter ium multiplies intracellularly in human monocytes, and under tissue culture conditions, multiplication is exclusively intraeellular (1). In previous studies, we investigated the role of humoral immuni ty in Legionnaires ' disease (2, 3). We found that virulent in vivo grown L. pne...

Legionnaires' disease is an established and frequent cause of pneumonia in adults but is thought to be a rare cause in children. We reviewed the medical literature for cases of Legionnaires' disease in children and analysed the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment. 76 cases of legionella infection in children were identified. In 56%, diagnosis was made with culture methodology....