Active smokers and those exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk of bacterial infection. Tobacco smoke exposure increases susceptibility to respiratory tract infections, including tuberculosis, pneumonia and Legionnaires disease; bacterial vaginosis and sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea; Helicobacter pylori infection; periodontitis; meningitis; otitis med...

Public Health England was notified of Legionnaires' disease in a neonate following a home birth in a heated birthing pool filled from the domestic hot water supply two weeks earlier. We describe the incident, sampling results, and public health actions. It is recommended that heated birthing pools should not be used for home births. Neonates developing pneumonia within 14 days of labour or birt...

Public health agencies are increasingly relying on genomics during Legionnaires' disease investigations. However, the causative bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) has an unusual population structure, with extreme temporal and spatial genome sequence conservation. Furthermore, Legionnaires' disease outbreaks can be caused by multiple L. pneumophila genotypes in a single source. These factors can...

BACKGROUND Legionella pneumophila, a major cause of Legionnaires' disease, accounts for 2-15 % of all community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization and up to 30 % of community-acquired pneumonia requiring intensive care unit admission. Early initiation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy is a crucial step in the prevention of morbidity and mortality. However, recognition of Legionnair...

Three cases of Legionnaires disease caused by Legionella longbeachae Sg 1 associated with potting compost have been reported in Scotland between 2008 and 2009. The exact method of transmission is still not fully understood as Legionnaires disease is thought to be acquired by droplet inhalation. The linked cases associated with compost exposure call for an introduction of compost labelling, as i...

B. Clinical Description Symptoms: Legionellosis has two distinct forms: Legionnaires’ disease, which is the more severe form of the infection, and Pontiac fever, which is milder. The most common initial symptoms for Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever are anorexia, myalgia, malaise and headache. This is rapidly followed by fever (up to 102  105 F.), chills and a non-productive cough. Other...

Fraser et all in their original description of legionnaires' disease referred to three patients out of 182 with a WCC less than 2.0 x 109/1, two of whom died. Two other patients had WCCs of less than 6 0 x 109/1. During his acute illness our patient had pancytopenia with bone marrow depression. We can only speculate on the part played by legionnaires' disease in producing hypoplastic anaemia. A...