[Legionella pneumonia--important differential diagnosis in pneumonia after travelling abroad].

BACKGROUND

Legionella pneumophila is a rare cause of pneumonia in Norway. From 1992 to 1999, only 27 cases were reported to the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Five cases diagnosed at the Akershus Central Hospital over the last three years are presented.

RESULTS

All patients acquired their infection while travelling abroad, mainly in the Mediterranean area, and all fell ill within fourteen days of returning home. The course was serious with marked hypoxaemia in three of the patients, and one patient died. Confusion and altered mental state were prominent features of the clinical presentation.

INTERPRETATION: Patients returning from visits abroad and presenting with a pneumonia within to weeks after arriving in Norway, should be investigated for Legionella as a causative agent unless there is a prompt response to empiric penicillin therapy.