Legionellosis
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Legionellosis
Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often ''Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. This often begins 2–10 days after exposure. A legionellosis is any disease caused by ''Legionella'', including Legionnaires' disease (a pneumonia) and Pontiac fever (a related upper respiratory tract infection), but Legionnaires' disease is the most common, so mentions of legionellosis often refer to Legionnaires' disease. The bacterium is found naturally in fresh water. It can contaminate hot water tanks, hot tubs, and cooling towers of large air conditioners. It is usually spread by breathing in mist that contains the bacteria. It can also occur when contaminated water is aspirated. It typically does not spread directly between people, and most people who are exposed do not become infect ...
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1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak
The 1976 Legionnaires' disease outbreak, occurring in the late summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States at an annual American Legion convention, was the first occasion in which a Disease cluster, cluster of a particular type of pneumonia cases were determined to be caused by the ''Legionella pneumophila'' bacteria. Previous outbreaks were retroactively diagnosed as being most probably caused by Legionella bacteria. Background On July 21, 1976, the American Legion opened its annual three-day convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 Legionnaires, mostly men, attended the convention. The date and city were chosen to coincide with America's celebration of the United States Bicentennial, 200th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia in 1776. On July 27, three days after the convention ended, Legionnaire Ray Brennan, a 61-year-old retired US Air Force Captain (United States O-3), cap ...
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Pontiac Fever
Pontiac fever is an acute, nonfatal respiratory disease caused by various species of Gram-negative bacteria in the genus ''Legionella''. It causes a mild upper respiratory infection that resembles acute influenza. Pontiac fever resolves spontaneously and often goes undiagnosed. Both Pontiac fever and the more severe Legionnaire's disease may be caused by the same bacterium, but Pontiac fever does not include pneumonia. Signs and symptoms Cause Species of ''Legionella'' known to cause Pontiac fever include ''Legionella pneumophila'', '' Legionella longbeachae'', '' Legionella feeleii'', '' Legionella micdadei'', and '' Legionella anisa''. Sources of the causative agents are aquatic systems and potting soil. The first outbreak caused by inhalation of aerosolized potting soil was discovered in New Zealand in January 2007. A total of 10 workers at a nursery came down with Pontiac fever. It was the first identification of ''L. longbeachae''. Pontiac fever does not spread from perso ...
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American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, in turn made up of local posts. It was established in March 1919 in Paris, France, by Officer (armed forces), officers and men of the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.). It was subsequently chartered by the 66th United States Congress, 66th U.S. Congress on September 16, 1919. The Legion played the leading role in drafting and passing the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the "G.I. Bill". In addition to organizing commemorative events, members assist at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) List of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, hospitals and clinics. It is active in issue-oriented U.S. politics. Its primary political activity is Lobbying in the United States, lobbying on beha ...
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Legionella
''Legionella'' is a genus of gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative bacteria that can be seen using a silver stain or grown in a special media that contains cysteine, an amino acid. It is known to cause legionellosis (all illnesses caused by ''Legionella'') including a pneumonia-type illness called Legionnaires' disease and a mild flu-like illness called Pontiac fever. These bacteria are common in many places, like soil and water. There are over 50 species and 70 types (serotype, serogroups) identified. ''Legionella'' does not spread from person-to-person. Most individuals who are exposed to the bacteria do not get sick. Most outbreaks result from poorly maintained cooling towers. The cell wall of the ''Legionella'' bacteria has parts that determine its specific type. The structural arrangement and building blocks (sugars) in the cell wall help classify the bacteria. Etymology ''Legionella'' was named after 1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, a 1976 outbreak of a th ...
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Cooling Towers
A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or, in the case of ''dry cooling towers'', rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature using radiators. Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, petrochemical and other chemical plants, thermal power stations, nuclear power stations and HVAC systems for cooling buildings. The classification is based on the type of air induction into the tower: the main types of cooling towers are natural draft and induced draft cooling towers. Cooling towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures that can be up to tall and in diameter, or rectangular structures that can be o ...
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Infectious Disease
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an Disease#Terminology, illness resulting from an infection. Infections can be caused by a wide range of pathogens, most prominently pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses. Hosts can fight infections using their immune systems. Mammalian hosts react to infections with an Innate immune system, innate response, often involving inflammation, followed by an Adaptive immune system, adaptive response. Treatment for infections depends on the type of pathogen involved. Common medications include: * Antibiotics for bacterial infections. * Antivirals for viral infections. * Antifungals for fungal infections. * Antiprotozoals for protozoan infections. * Antihelminthics for infections caused by parasi ...
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Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the urban core of the Philadelphia metropolitan area (sometimes called the Delaware Valley), the nation's Metropolitan statistical area, seventh-largest metropolitan area and ninth-largest combined statistical area with 6.245 million residents and 7.379 million residents, respectively. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Americans, English Quakers, Quaker and advocate of Freedom of religion, religious freedom, and served as the capital of the Colonial history of the United States, colonial era Province of Pennsylvania. It then played a historic and vital role during the American Revolution and American Revolutionary ...
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Outbreak
In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire continent. The number of cases varies according to the disease-causing agent, and the size and type of previous and existing exposure to the agent. Outbreaks include many epidemics, which term is normally only for infectious diseases, as well as diseases with an environmental origin, such as a water or foodborne disease. They may affect a region in a country or a group of countries. Pandemics are near-global disease outbreaks when multiple and various countries around the Earth are soon infected. Definition The terms "outbreak" and "epidemic" have often been used interchangeably. Researchers Manfred S. Green and colleagues propose that the latter term be restricted to larger events, pointing out that '' Chambers Concise Dictionary'' and ...
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Doxycycline
Doxycycline is a Broad-spectrum antibiotic, broad-spectrum antibiotic of the Tetracycline antibiotics, tetracycline class used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria and certain parasites. It is used to treat pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia, acne vulgaris, acne, chlamydia infections, Lyme disease, cholera, typhus, and syphilis. It is also used to prevent malaria. Doxycycline may be taken Oral administration, by mouth or by intravenous, injection into a vein. Common side effects include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and an increased risk of sunburn. Use during pregnancy is not recommended. Like other agents of the tetracycline class, it either slows or kills bacteria by inhibiting protein production. It kills malaria by targeting a plastid organelle, the apicoplast. Doxycycline was patented in 1957 and came into commercial use in 1967. It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Doxycyc ...
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Azithromycin
Azithromycin, sold under the brand names Zithromax (in oral form) and Azasite (as an eye drop), is an antibiotic medication used for the treatment of several bacterial infections. This includes otitis media, middle ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, traveler's diarrhea, Sexually transmitted infection, STI and certain other gastroenteritis, intestinal infections. Along with other medications, it may also be used for malaria. It is Drug administration, administered by mouth, intravenously, into a vein, or into the eye drops, eye. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and upset stomach. An allergic reaction, such as anaphylaxis, or a type of diarrhea caused by Clostridioides difficile infection, ''Clostridioides difficile'' is possible. Azithromycin causes drug-induced QT prolongation, QT prolongation that may cause life-threatening arrhythmias such as torsades de pointes. While some studies claim that no harm has been found with use during pregnancy, more ...
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Fluoroquinolone
Quinolone antibiotics constitute a large group of broad-spectrum bacteriocidals that share a bicyclic core structure related to the substance 4-quinolone. They are used in human and veterinary medicine to treat bacterial infections, as well as in animal husbandry, specifically poultry production. Quinolone antibiotics are classified into four generations based on their spectrum of activity and chemical modifications. The first-generation quinolones, such as nalidixic acid, primarily target Gram-negative bacteria and are mainly used for urinary tract infections. Second-generation quinolones introduced fluorine atoms into their structure, creating fluoroquinolones, which significantly expanded their antibacterial activity to include some Gram-positive bacteria. Third-generation fluoroquinolones further improved Gram-positive coverage, while fourth-generation fluoroquinolones offer broad-spectrum activity, including anaerobic bacteria. Only quinolone antibiotics in generati ...
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Antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy, treatment and antibiotic prophylaxis, prevention of such infections. They may either bactericide, kill or bacteriostatic agent, inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the ones which cause the common cold or influenza. Drugs which inhibit growth of viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals. Antibiotics are also not effective against fungi. Drugs which inhibit growth of fungi are called antifungal drugs. Sometimes, the term ''antibiotic''—literally "opposing life", from the Greek language, Greek roots ἀντι ''anti'', "against" and βίος ''bios'', "life"—is broadly used to refer to any substance used against ...
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