Beware! A 76-year-old man became "nervous" after returning from a trip, just because he was infected with this "bacteria"

After returning from a trip, 76-year-old Grandma Peng from Changsha began to experience chills, chills, and high fever, with the highest body temperature reaching 40.0℃. She also had a splitting headache, body aches, and difficulty breathing. At the same time, she seemed like a different person, sometimes noisy, talking nonsense, and having hallucinations. In the words of her family, the patient had a fever and went "crazy" at home, so she was rushed to the Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Department of Hunan Provincial Second People's Hospital (Provincial Brain Hospital) for hospitalization.

After admission to the hospital, the attending physician arranged a series of examinations for the patient and found that Grandma Peng's blood count and inflammatory indicators were significantly elevated. The lung CT showed exudative lesions in the left upper lung. Her liver function and heart indicators also showed red lights. She also developed severe hyponatremia and hypochloremia. Grandma Peng was quickly admitted to the RICU for hospitalization.

How could she be admitted to the ICU after catching a cold while traveling, and she was still able to move freely and healthy a week ago? The patient's family was extremely nervous. The patient had a history of traveling, summer, pneumonia, multiple system damage, and hyponatremia, and needed to be alert to the rare pathogen-Legionella infection. An emergency fiberoptic bronchoscopy was arranged for the pathogenic microorganism macrogene detection, and it was finally found that the culprit that caused Grandma Peng's illness was Legionella infection .

After careful treatment by the doctor, Grandma Peng's temperature is now normal, her symptoms have disappeared, and she will be able to recover and be discharged from the hospital soon.

What is Legionella? How to prevent it? Let's listen to the explanation of Dr. Zeng Xiangbo, chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Hunan Second People's Hospital (Provincial Brain Hospital).

1. So what is Legionella? How does Legionella infect the human body?

Legionella is an aerobic, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming bacillus that is ubiquitous in nature and widely found in environments such as water and soil.

Human infection with Legionella is mainly due to inhalation of aerosols or dust containing Legionella. Legionella contamination of artificial piped water supply systems (such as central air conditioning cooling towers, hot and cold water pipe systems, showers, and even medical humidifiers such as ventilator humidification devices, etc.) is a common cause of infection. Legionella has strong resistance to heat and can survive at temperatures of 0-63°C, but water temperatures of 25-42°C are more suitable for the growth of Legionella than cold water.

Legionella pneumonia can occur all year round, but is more common in late summer and early fall. It is more common among tourists, and any pneumonia outbreak associated with tourists and hotels or other buildings should be considered a possible cause of Legionella infection.

2. Who is susceptible to Legionella infection? Can normal people be infected?

People of all ages may be infected with Legionella. In particular, patients with low immunity, such as those who are elderly, smokers, alcoholics, have diabetes, chronic lung disease, renal failure, hemodialysis, and organ transplants, are susceptible to Legionella infection. Therefore, in late summer and early autumn, patients with chronic diseases need to take precautions to avoid Legionella infection.

3. How to prevent Legionella infection?

Legionella mainly exists in artificial pipe water supply systems. The most common ones in daily life are air conditioning pipes and shower pipes. First of all, we need to pay attention to the cleaning of air conditioners. We need to clean and disinfect air conditioners before using them every summer and winter.

When using the air conditioner, be careful to avoid direct air blowing from the air conditioner, and open the windows for ventilation regularly to keep the indoor air fresh; after entering the room or turning on the air conditioner in the car, it is best to wait 15 minutes before closing the doors and windows, which will help the various harmful substances in the air conditioner to dissipate and reduce harm to health.

At the same time, the shower head and other equipment in the shower room should be cleaned regularly to keep it clean and hygienic. Bathroom products that are not used for a long time should be drained in advance.

Furthermore, summer vacation is the peak tourist season, and people with low immunity should try to reduce travel. If they must go out, they should wear a mask and take good protection.

Finally, everyone should exercise regularly, improve physical fitness, quit smoking and drinking, develop good living habits, and enhance their own resistance.

4. What are the symptoms of Legionella infection?

The incubation period of Legionella infection is 2-10 days, and symptoms include: fatigue, headache, muscle aches all over the body, fever, diarrhea, impaired consciousness, and even mental abnormalities like Grandma Peng.

Legionella infection may cause multi-system involvement, including abnormal liver function, elevated muscle enzymes, dyspnea, electrolyte imbalance (severe hyponatremia), etc.

Legionella infection is an acute, rapidly progressing and serious disease with a high mortality rate. If not treated promptly, the disease can easily worsen and become life-threatening.

5. How to treat Legionella infection?

If you are infected with Legionella and have symptoms such as fever, headache, and diarrhea, it is recommended that you see a doctor as soon as possible. The doctor will develop a reasonable treatment plan based on your condition.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Yuan Yanqing, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Hunan Second People's Hospital (Provincial Brain Hospital)

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(Edited by ZS)