Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0023241 (Legionella)
 6,990 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Over a period of 4 consecutive yr, 92 nonimmunosuppressed patients (21 women and 71 men aged 53 +/- 16 yr, means = SD) with critical acute respiratory failure (PaO2/FiO2, 209 +/- 9 mm Hg) caused by severe community-acquired pneumonia were admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) of a general hospital. The most frequent underlying clinical condition was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (44 patients, 48%). A total of 56 patients (61%) required mechanical ventilation for a mean period of 10.7 +/- 12.5 days, 29 of them (52%) needing PEEP (9.9 +/- 3.8 cm H2O). A group of 23 (25%) patients had criteria of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). A causal microorganism was identified in 48 patients (52%), the two most frequent etiologies being Streptococcus pneumoniae (14, 15%) and Legionella pneumophila (13, 14%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5, 5%) was always associated with bronchiectasis. Mortality due to severe community-acquired pneumonia was 22% (20 patients). According to univariate analysis, mortality was associated with anticipated death within 4 to 5 yr, inadequate antibiotic treatment before RICU admission, mechanical ventilation requirements, use of PEEP, FIO2 greater than 0.6, coexistence of ARDS, radiographic spread of the pneumonia during RICU admission, septic shock, bacteremia, and P. aeruginosa as the cause of the pneumonia. Further, recursive partitioning analysis selected two factors significantly related to the prognosis: the radiographic spread of the pneumonia during RICU admission and the presence of septic shock.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Severe community-acquired pneumonia. Epidemiology and prognostic factors. 185 53

Patients affected by pneumonia can be admitted in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) independently by the setting where the infection has been acquired (community, hospital, long-term care facilities); even more frequently pneumonia can develop in patients already hospitalized in ICU especially in those requiring mechanical ventilation for different reasons. Within the severe community acquired pneumonia requiring admission in ICU, the most frequently responsible micro-organisms are mainly represented by Streptococcus pneumoniae, but also by Legionella and Haemophilus. Pseudomonas aeruginona, anyway, cannot be excluded. The most recent Canadian and American guidelines for treatment of the above mentioned infections suggest the use of a combination therapy with beta-lactams (ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, ampicillin/sulbactam, piperacillin/tazobactam) and a new generation macrolide or respiratory fluoroquinolone. In case of allergy to beta-lactams, the association fluoroquinolone-clindamycin should be preferred. Whenever a Pseudomonas etiology is suspected because of the presence of risk factors such as COPD, cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, previous and/or frequent therapies with antibiotics and/or steroids, the same guidelines suggest the use of an anti-pseudomonas beta-lactam (such as piperacillin/tazobactam, carbapenems, cefepime) associated with an anti-pseudomonas fluoroquinolone (high doses ciprofloxacin). An anti-pseudomonas beta-lactam plus an aminoglycoside or aminoglicosyde plus fluoroquinolone can be an alternative. Early onset Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) and early onset Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) in patients without risk factors for multi-resistant etiological agents are generally sustained by S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, methicillin-susceptible Staphylocccus aureus e Gram negative enteric rods. These infections can be treated with one of the following antibiotics: ceftriaxone or fluoroquinolones (moxifloxacin or ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin) or ampicillin/sulbactam or ertapenem. Late onset VAP and HAP in patients with risk factors for multi-resistant, by contrast, should be treated with a combination therapy: in case of defined or suspected P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESbL+), Acinetobacter sp etiology, it is required the use of an anti-pseudomonas cephalosporin or an anti-pseudomonas carbapenem or b-lactam + beta-lactamase inhibitor associated with an anti-pseudomonas fluoroquinolone or an aminoglicoside. The possible presence of MRSA or Legionella pneumophila suggests the use of anti-Gram positive antibiotics such as glycopeptides or linezolid. These quidelines confirm the role of ciprofloxacin combined with beta-lactams whenever P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESbL+), Acinetobacter sp. etiology is suspected.
 ...
PMID:[Guidelines for treatment of pneumonia in intensive care units]. 1680 48

Legionella species have been widely recognized as among the important causative organisms of community-acquired pneumonia in Japan. A delay in the start of adequate treatment has a negative influence on the outcome of the disease. Telithromycin, the first oral ketolide antibacterial, was developed for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, including Legionella pneumonia. However, few reports have indicated the efficacy of telithromycin in community-acquired pneumonia caused by Legionella species. We report three cases of Legionella pneumonia, that were improved by early telithromycin therapy. The first patient (67-year-old man) had bronchiectasis as an underlying disease, and the second patient (73-year-old man) had diabetes mellitus and chronic renal failure. The third patient (62-year-old man) developed pneumonia after a spa tour. The diagnosis of Legionella pneumonia was made on the basis of the presence of a single IgG titer of 1/256 in case 1 and positive antigenuria in cases 2 and 3. The patients were classified into a mild group (case 1) and a moderate group (cases 2 and 3) based on the severity of the community-acquired pneumonia according to the 2005 Japanese Respiratory Society Guidelines. The results support the efficacy of telithromycin in mild to moderate Legionella pneumonia.
 ...
PMID:[Successful telithromycin therapy of Legionella pneumonia --report of three cases]. 1692 86

The first point of a good diagnostic strategy for healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) is correct classification of patients with specific criteria, as suggested by the last American Thoracic Society/ Infectious Diseases Society of America (ATS/IDSA) guidelines. However, clinical practice and recent literature have suggested new risk factors for multidrug-resistant infection (MRI): the presence of permanent indwelling devices, prior antibiotic use in the last 3 months, chronic and advanced pulmonary diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis, etc.), history of alcoholism, and immunosuppression. The clinical presentation in HCAP patients is often unusual (mild respiratory symptoms and frequent extrapulmonary manifestations) due to different factors: advanced age, neurological disorders, and multiple chronic comorbidities. Moreover, HCAP commonly presents a worse clinical course than community-acquired pneumonia, a prolonged length of stay, and a mortality rate close to hospital-acquired pneumonia. Chest radiography and routine laboratory markers (including C-reactive protein) are always needed for clinical evaluation and severity assessment. The clinical use of new biomarkers of infection and sepsis (procalcitonin, etc.) is currently being investigated. Extensive microbiological testing to overcome the high prevalence of MRI in HCAP, including urinary antigens for Legionella and Streptococcus pneumoniae; blood cultures; Gram staining and low respiratory tract secretions (sputum, tracheobronchial aspirate, fibrobronchial aspirate, protected specimen brush, bronchoalveolar lavage); and cultures for aerobic, anaerobic, mycobacterial, and fungal pathogens are recommended, whereas the indication for serology tests for respiratory viruses and atypical pathogens is low. By contrast, the new polymerase chain reaction-based techniques for the rapid identification (2 to 4 hours) of microbial pathogens in respiratory samples (nasopharyngeal swab, bronchoalveolar lavage) seem to be the most innovative future perspective in the diagnostics of HCAP.
 ...
PMID:Diagnostic strategies for healthcare-associated pneumonia. 1919 85

A novel microarray was constructed with DNA PCR product probes targeting species specific functional genes of nine clinically significant respiratory pathogens, including the Gram-positive organisms (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes), the Gram-negative organisms (Chlamydia pneumoniae, Coxiella burnetii Haemophilus spp., Legionella pneumophila, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), as well as the atypical bacterium, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. In a "proof-of-concept" evaluation of the developed microarray, the microarray was compared with real-time PCR from 14 sputum specimens from COPD patients. All of the samples positive for bacterial species in real-time PCR were also positive for the same bacterial species using the microarray. This study shows that a microarray using PCR probes is a potentially useful method to monitor the populations of bacteria in respiratory specimens and can be tailored to specific clinical needs such as respiratory infections of particular patient populations, including patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.
 ...
PMID:Development of a novel DNA microarray to detect bacterial pathogens in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 2007 91

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) represents a syndrome that can complicate many clinical conditions and may be life-threatening, requiring prompt treatment. It is recognized by the signs of acute- or subacute-onset cough, hemoptysis, diffuse radiographic pulmonary infiltrates, anemia, and hypoxemic respiratory distress. DAH is characterized by the accumulation of intra-alveolar red blood cells originating most frequently from the alveolar capillaries. It must be distinguished from localized pulmonary hemorrhage, which is most commonly due to chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, tumor, or localized infection. Hemoptysis, the major sign of DAH, may develop suddenly or over a period of days to weeks; this sign may also be initially absent, in which case diagnostic suspicion is established after sequential bronchoalveolar lavage reveals worsening red blood cell counts. The causes of DAH can be divided into infectious and noninfectious, the latter of which may affect immunocompetent or immunodeficient patients. Pulmonary infections are rarely reported in association with DAH, but they should be considered in the diagnostic workup because of the obvious therapeutic implications. In immunocompromised patients, the main infectious diseases that cause DAH are cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, invasive aspergillosis, Mycoplasma, Legionella, and Strongyloides. In immunocompetent patients, the infectious diseases that most frequently cause DAH are influenza A (H1N1), dengue, leptospirosis, malaria, and Staphylococcus aureus infection. Based on a search of the PubMed and Scopus databases, we review the infectious diseases that may cause DAH in immunocompetent patients.
 ...
PMID:Infectious diseases causing diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in immunocompetent patients: a state-of-the-art review. 2312 13

For many years, the clinical benefit of macrolide use has been recognized in specific groups of patients with pulmonary disease. Dramatic improvement in survival of patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis is the most striking example of successful macrolide use as well as treatment of community acquired pneumonia caused by the atypical bacteria Mycoplasma, Chlamydophila, and Legionella. There also has been documentation of reduction in the exacerbation rate and of improvement in quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and reduction in post-lung transplantation bronchiolitis frequency. There has long been an interest in treating patients with severe asthma by using macrolides, but research results have not shown consistent clinical benefit in their use in the "general" population of patients with severe asthma. Rather, the successful use of macrolides seems to be in those patients with either documented Mycoplasma or Chlamydophila infection, or noneosinophilic asthma. Patients with neutrophil predominant phenotype severe asthma tend to show a decline in exacerbation rate, improved peak expiratory flows, and improved quality of life when treated with macrolides. This article will review the use of macrolides in the treatment of asthma.
...
PMID:The role of atypical infections and macrolide therapy in patients with asthma. 2521 43