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

Medical science has made tremendous strides in overcoming infectious diseases in the 20th century. Despite this, several epidemics of previously unrecognized diseases have occurred during the last 15 years. These diseases include Lyme disease, Legionnaires' disease, toxic shock syndrome, and AIDS. Examination of past epidemics, including the plague of Athens, the black death, syphilis, and influenza, suggests that the sudden occurrence of diseases that were previously unrecognized is not unusual. Analysis of the new infectious disease indicates that while all four appeared suddenly, isolated cases of the disease occurred before the actual epidemic. Further, all four new diseases were found to be due to agents or toxins that were not previously recognized. Epidemics due to new infectious diseases may arise by several mechanisms, including mutation of the pathogen to a virulent form and introduction of an infectious agent into a nonimmune population. Environmental and behavioral factors may play an important role, as illustrated by toxic shock syndrome, Legionnaires' disease, and AIDS. On the other hand, epidemic diseases tend to abate over time because of changes in the infecting pathogen and in the host. Hence, epidemics can be seen as cycles; new diseases will arise periodically, occasionally with a devastating outcome. With time the effects of these diseases on the population will ameliorate. The cycle will begin again when a new disease emerges.
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PMID:Plagues--what's past is present: thoughts on the origin and history of new infectious diseases. 192 88

Although animal models of infection are associated with certain limitations in interpretation, properly performed studies provide important information for evaluating the efficacy of new antimicrobial agents in the treatment of human disease. The antibacterial efficacy of the newer quinolones, particularly ciprofloxacin, has undergone extensive evaluation in several animal models. Efficacy has been demonstrated in animal models of pneumonia, endocarditis, meningitis, skin and soft-tissue infections, septic arthritis, burn wound sepsis, empyema, intra-abdominal abscess, osteomyelitis, prostatitis, sinusitis, urinary tract infection, chronic gastroenteritis, granuloma pouch infection, and Pseudomonas septicemia. More recent studies have evaluated the efficacy of ciprofloxacin in animal models of tuberculosis and syphilis, as well as in infections caused by the intracellular pathogens Salmonella typhimurium, Legionella pneumophila, and Listeria monocytogenes.
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PMID:An update on the efficacy of ciprofloxacin in animal models of infection. 258 79

The availability of new biotechnologies has led to the prediction that new or improved vaccines can be developed for 27 diseases within the next decade. The reasons why such optimism cannot be extended to the availability of vaccines for many other infectious diseases are considered by reviewing the steps in vaccine development, from identification of the etiologic agent to construction of attenuated or inactivated vaccines. Impediments to development may exist or arise at any point in this pathway (e.g., multiplicity of serotypes, inability to cultivate the pathogen, multistage life cycles with multiple antigens, unpredictability of epidemics, inadequate knowledge of pathogenesis and immunity, fear of gene splicing, need for an adjuvant, and lack of profitability). Diseases for which vaccines are not likely to be available in the next decade include trachoma, onchocerciasis, pneumonia due to Legionella and to mycoplasmas, amebiasis and giardiasis, schistosomiasis, syphilis, chlamydial urethritis, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and filariasis, and non-A, non-B hepatitis.
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PMID:Impediments to the development of additional vaccines: vaccines against important diseases that will not be available in the next decade. 266 4

General screening investigations with various antigens were carried out with a view to further specific investigations being carried out on the Cape Verde Islands concerning infectious diseases. Serological positive reactions were found in Mumps, Adeno, PLT, Cytomegaly, Herpes, Para-influenza 1, 2, 3, Influenza A and B, Mycoplasmosis, RS-Virus, Gonorrhoea, Hepatitis A and B, R. conori, Malaria, Syphilis, Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis, Varicella, Legionella, Picornavirus, Measles, German Measles, Listeriosis, Toxoplasmosis and Amoebic dysentery.
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PMID:Serological screenings of various infectious diseases on the Cape Verde Islands (West Africa). 344 44

In serological investigations undertaken in two hospitals in Nigeria a total of 188 blood samples were examined and the following positive reactions for various diseases found: malaria 100%, leishmaniasis 9.5%, biharziasis 2.1%, yersinia 16.4%, Legionella pn. 9%, gonorrhea 6%, syphilis 6.9%, measles 65.4%, rubella 84%, cytomegalic 78.2%, herpes simplex 67%, varicella 30.8%, Resp. sync. virus 34.6%, influenza A 57.4%, influenza B 73.9%, para-influenza 1, 2, 3, 20.7%, 16.5%, 52.6%, adenovirus 25%, Mycoplasma pneumoniae 33.5%.
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PMID:Serological testing of human blood samples for infectious diseases in the Abeokuta and the Minna Hospitals/Nigeria. 344 50

The chemistry, mode of action, antimicrobial activity, pharmacokinetics, and therapeutic efficacy of doxycycline are reviewed. Doxycycline displays excellent activity against gram-positive and gram-negative aerobic and anaerobic pathogens. The oral absorption of doxycycline is rapid and virtually complete and is not significantly decreased by food. Moreover, serum concentrations of doxycycline following oral and intravenous (i.v.) administration are comparable. Because of the prolonged half-life of doxycycline, once daily administration is possible. Tissue penetration of doxycycline is excellent. Levels within the therapeutic range have been found in most organs and tissues, including kidney, lung, gallbladder, prostate, intestinal tract, myocardium, sinus secretions, tonsil, aqueous humor, and female reproductive tissue. Doxycycline does not accumulate in patients with renal insufficiency and is not removed from the blood to any great extent during hemodialysis. Extensive clinical investigation has shown doxycycline to be highly effective in infections of the respiratory tract, including atypical pneumonias; skin and soft tissue; genitourinary infection including gonorrhea, syphilis, nonspecific urethritis, and prostatitis; intraabdominal infection due to trauma, sepsis, or surgery; and cholera. Evidence also suggests that doxycycline will prove effective in the treatment of Legionnaires' disease. In addition, placebo-controlled clinical trials suggest doxycycline is effective in the prevention of traveler's diarrhea.
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PMID:Doxycycline. 704 45

Erythromycin, the prototypical macrolide, has been widely used since the 1950s in the management of pediatric infections. Erythromycin is the drug of choice for infants and children with Legionnaire's disease, pertussis, diphtheria, lower respiratory tract infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia trachomatis and enteritis caused by Campylobacter jejuni. It is also indicated for treatment of syphilis; for streptococcal, staphylococcal and pneumococcal infections; genital infections caused by Ureaplasma urealyticum; and for the prevention of rheumatic fever and endocarditis in patients who are allergic to beta-lactam antibiotics. The new macrolides azithromycin and clarithromycin are also active against Borrelia burgdorferi, Helicobacter pylori, Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex, Cryptosporidium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii. Erythromycin is associated with a low risk of serious side effects, although gastric distress occurs in a significant proportion of patients. Drug interactions with theophylline, carbamazepine, warfarin, cyclosporine, terfenadine and digoxin limit erythromycin use. The newer macrolides azithromycin and clarithromycin are more stable, better absorbed and better tolerated than erythromycin. Azithromycin is more active than erythromycin against Haemophilus influenzae. Excellent tissue and intracellular penetration may contribute to their clinical efficacy. In children both azithromycin and clarithromycin are indicated for acute otitis media caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, H. influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis and for pharyngitis/tonsillitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. (As of December, 1996, azithromycin for oral suspension was approved for community-acquired pneumonia in children caused by C. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, M. pneumoniae and S. pneumoniae.) Claritromycin is also indicated for acute maxillary sinusitis, uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections, pneumonia and disseminated mycobacterial infections. Azithromycin and clarithromycin are associated with a lower incidence of gastrointestinal side effects, a low rate of drug discontinuation caused by side effects and a low potential for interaction with other drugs.
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PMID:History of macrolide use in pediatrics. 910 54