How Legionnaire 's Disease Is An Important Public Health Problem That Can Cause Substantial Morbidity And Mortality?

Pneumonia is an acute infection of the lungs, it can be caused by a variety of organisms entering the body – including bacteria, viruses or fungi. The infection causes an inflammation of the alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs and may result in the alveoli filling with fluid or other purulent material (Mayo Clinic, 2016). An accumulation of fluid within alveoli and portions of the lungs, can reduce the ability of the lungs to allow for oxygen diffusion across the alveoli walls. If oxygen saturation is low, it can cause the body’s cells to not work effectively. Therefore, the risk of the infection spreading through the body is increased – it is due to this reason, that pneumonia can be life-threatening (American Lung Foundation, 2016). Pneumonia

This paper explores Pneumonia and the respiratory disease process associated with bacterial and viral pathogens most commonly located in the lung. The paper examines the process, symptoms and treatments most commonly viewed in patient cases of Pneumonia. My goal is to educate the reader and to warn of the

People can recover from Legionnaires’, but 5% - 30% die. The most likely people to die by the disease are the elderlies and people with underlying medical problems. The disease is not spread by person to person, but through the air.

Over the past month ten people have died and one-hundred have fallen ill due to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the South Bronx section of New York State. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the Legionella bacterium has been detected in two apartment houses, the Bronx County Hall of Justice, The Bronx General Post Office and the Samuel Gompers High School at the present time. Five other Bronx locations have also been tested positive and the mayor insists that the city is winning the battle against the outbreak. According to a news story shared by Newsweek on August 9, the fatal form of bacterial pneumonia is tapering off and officials are attempting to contain the outbreak within the New York City’s South Bronx neighborhood.

During 1977 in Copen hang, a lady died after being diagnosed with pneumocystis pneumonia shortly after her immune system failed her with no signs before doing so. However, in Paris during 1978 a man was diagnosed with pneumocystis pneumonia, he showed symptoms of fungus in his mouth, warts on his hands and legs, and a toxoplasmosis cat disease that was eating away his brain. After this outrageous outbreak of pneumocystis pneumonia, doctors in Paris came to the conclusion that they should look more into this since people don’t usually die from this illness. This was an important moment because doctors should have been more attentive to patients who were being diagnosed with the pneumocystis pneumonia. This was the start of a coactive enterprise. Doctors wanted their patients to be more than just victims who were all

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung which results into an excess of fluid or pus accumulating into the alveoli of the lung. Pneumonia impairs gas exchange which leads to hypoxemia and is acquire by inhaling a contagious organism or an irritating agent. (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Fungal, bacteria and viruses are the most common organisms that can be inhale. Pneumonia could be community-acquired or health care associated. Community –acquired pneumonia (CAP) occurs out of a healthcare facility while health care associated pneumonia (HAP) is acquired in a healthcare facility. HAP are more resistant to antibiotic and patients on ventilators and those receiving kidney dialysis have a higher risk factor. Infants, children and the elderly also have a higher risk of acquiring pneumonia due to their immune system inability to fight the virus. Pneumonia can also be classified as aspiration pneumonia if it arises by inhaling saliva, vomit, food or drink into the lungs. Patients with abnormal gag reflex, dysphagia, brain injury, and are abusing drug or alcohol have a higher risk of aspiration pneumonia (Mayo Clinic, 2013). In the case of patient E.O., this patient had rhonchi in the lower lobe and the upper lobe sound was coarse and diminished. Signs and symptoms of pneumonia include difficulty breathing, chest pain, wheezing, fever, headache, chills, cough, confusion, pain in muscle or

Legionnaires' disease is a severe bacterial pneumonia first identified after an outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976, but earlier cases have been confirmed as far back as 1947. The article, A Belated Look at New York’s Cooling Towers, Prime Suspect in Legionnaires’ Outbreak written by Winnie Hu and Noah Remnnick, is about what New York City is doing to prevent further spread of the Legionnaires' disease. It was first named Legionella pneumophila and later changed to legionellosis. Since the city's first confirmed case in 1977, in the South Bronx alone, the disease has infected almost 100 people and killed eight as of this writing. Sadly, it took the largest and deadliest outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New

Once the outbreak was identified as a pneumonic plague epidemic, health care professionals did not need to be concerned about secondary aerosols transmission of pneumonic plague, as there is much literature supporting the use of properly fitting surgical masks to effectively protect against infection. Simple protective guidelines can be followed to further reduce the risk of infection; all those caring for, working near, or in direct contact with infected patients should don appropriate PPE including properly fitting masks and coverings to effectively protect themselves from exposure to secondary aerosols release from inhaling infected persons respiratory droplets, likely produced from their coughs or sneezes. Moreover caretakers should avoid

ill patients are at risk of getting further diseased by a number of hospital infections. Patients

Legionnaires’ disease is caused by bacteria known as Legionella. It is a type of pneumonia. This bacteria is naturally found in the environment, most commonly found in water. The Legionella bacteria can be readily found in water systems, and anything that holds water, such as hot tubs and plumbing systems..

Pneumonia is an illness of the lower respiratory tract in which the lungs become inflamed and congested and alveolar spaces are filled with fluid and cells-polymorphs and lymphocytes (Mandell L.A). It is an inflammatory condition of the lung and it is one of the most serious infections, causing two million deaths annually among the young and elderly. Pneumonia is the largest killer, accounting for 28% to 34% of all child deaths below five years of age in low-income countries and is an important cause of mortality in the elderly in high-income countries (Suárez).

Legionnaires’ disease, a serious type of pneumonia, is typically contracted by breathing in small droplets of water in the air that contain the bacteria Legionella, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains. Legionella occurs naturally in fresh water sources but becomes an issue in man-made

Mrs. A (pseudonym) is an 83-year-old Samoan female of Christian religion who was admitted to an urban hospital on 02/04/15 by GP referral. She came in with chest pain associated with productive cough and shortness of breath (SOB) on exertion. She also complained of having recurrent episodes of vomiting mixed with saliva and fatigue. She has a history of asthma, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus on Metformin and double incontinence due to a long-standing history of intermittent constipation. Her chest computed tomographic (CT) revealed right lower lobe opacity indicating pulmonary consolidation, which means that her right lower lung has accumulated exudates in the alveoli that would have normally been filled by gas, indicative of bacterial pneumonia. Furthermore, a sputum gram stain sample collected from Mrs. A showed gram-positive bacteria, which is also a characteristic of pneumonia. Her blood tests revealed a high haemoglobin count, which may be caused by an underlying lung disease, as well as high white blood cell count confirming the presence of infection. Considering all diagnostic results, Mrs. A was diagnosed with right lower lobe bacterial pneumonia.

M. pneumoniae is generally referred to as primary atypical or walking pneumonia because the symptoms are not as sever as pneumonia. The symptoms include a dry hacking cough, fever, and headache. The symptoms will last for about 2 to 3 weeks. M. pneumoniae affects people worldwide. Typically only 33 % of people who have M. pneumoniae will get atypical pneumonia. The majority, 77 %, will come down with an upper tract infection (tracheaobronchitis). (Pulmonary Disorders pg 609) M. pneumoniae is transmitted through aerosol droplets. The bacterium is capable of infecting anyone at any time but it has a pattern of coming in the fall and winter and causing an outbreak every 4 to 8 years, although more tight communities occur more frequently. The pathogen rarely occurs on children less than 4 years of age. Since the bacterium lacks a cell wall, B-lactums are futile against them. The body’s immune system is responsible for killing the pathogen. There were 2 million cases in the US with 100,000 requiring hospitalization. The mortality rate is very low with only occasional fatalities among the elderly and sickle cell anemia persons. ( ).

The clinical manifestations of pneumonia will be different according to the causative organism and the patient’s underlying conditions and/or comorbidities (Smeltzer, et al). Some of the manifestations are