# Holy crap - my friend has Legionnaires' Disease! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 22, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577 "2009-06-22T13:51:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/1 "2009-06-22T13:51:34Z")
I got an email Friday night that one of my friends from Long Island was in the hospital in critical condition with an “undiagnosed infection” and was at death’s door. He’s 47. That was bad enough, but look at Sunday’s followup: \*Subject: Update on Xxx - Sunday June 21, 2009 I just got off the phone with Xxx’s Mom. He’s still hanging on. They are taking it hour by hour. Each hour he makes it is a sign of improvement, she said, but its touch and go. He’s made it this far, so hopefully he can keep up the fight. He is heavily sedated and on a ventilator. He’s on dialysis and they are still trying to prevent organ failure. They do not know how his kidneys will be after all of this. They have a firm diagnosis of Legionnaires’ Pneumonia. Apparently it’s very rare, rare enough for the government to get involved (CDC?). The doctors at his hospital are treating him from “out of the books” because it’s so rare and no one there has first hand experience with this. If any of you doctors out there know anyone who does, please let the family know, or contact me directly and I will pass it on. He is in (Undisclosed) Hospital on Long Island. They wanted to move him to another hospital, but he’s not stable enough to move. He was recently traveling in Kentucky and they think he must have inhaled stagnant water, perhaps from a dirty shower head, but they don’t know where or how. They are trying to figure out where he stayed on his trip, possibly in multiple locations, so they can figure out the source. He had visited a cave while on his trip, which is why they thought it was a disease from inhaling bat guano (histoplasmosis?). She said that the family is all hanging in there and they appreciate the outpouring of support and prayers from Xxx’s friends.\* The economy, Iran, and now this. the 1970s really are back! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/2 "2009-06-22T14:22:02Z")
Nasty disease, that. I had one patient with a case of it. He had been young and healthy, and was carried into the ER one night by his 8 month pregnant wife. Sick, and delerious, he nearly didn’t make it. Several patients in our community did die of it, with that outbreak. I’d like to take credit for suspecting Legionella, and treating him appropriately, but I was just lucky. I gave him IV erythromycin (this was in the 80’s, after all) on the principle of “when you don’t know what respiratory infection it is, erythro covers nearly everything (including Legionella), even though it hurts like hell”. Most other standard community-acquired pneumonia antibiotics in that era wouldn’t touch that bug. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/3 "2009-06-22T23:26:49Z")
So? Any news? When your friend recovers, could you ask him to start a Thread on the subject here? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/4 "2009-06-23T19:59:16Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > So? > > Any news? > > When your friend recovers, could you ask him to start a Thread on the subject here? There is news, and it’s (relatively) good! I\* spoke to Xxx’s mother, she said they are finally saying that Xxx has passed over the worst and is starting to show signs of improvement. Still intubated. Still a long road to recovery.\* I think it’ll be some time before he posts on here, if he even wants to talk about it at all. But, I’ll ask when the time comes. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/5 "2009-06-23T20:02:28Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Nasty disease, that. > > I’d like to take credit for suspecting Legionella, and treating him appropriately, but I was just lucky. I gave him IV erythromycin (this was in the 80’s, after all) on the principle of “when you don’t know what respiratory infection it is, erythro covers nearly everything (including Legionella), \*\*even though it hurts like hell”. \*\* Most other standard community-acquired pneumonia antibiotics in that era wouldn’t touch that bug. Why does this treatment hurt more than other antibiotics? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/6 "2009-06-23T20:03:31Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Why does this treatment hurt more than other antibiotics? As I recall: In solution (as for IVs) it’s rather acidic, so it burns going in. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/7 "2009-06-23T20:08:46Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > As I recall: In solution (as for IVs) it’s rather acidic, so it burns going in. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-my-friend-has-legionnaires-disease/500577/8 "2009-06-23T20:17:16Z")
I saw this the other day and didn’t read it at that time. It looks like they’ve found the bacteria in the Cop Water in the Detroit area: [http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19829561/detail.html](http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19829561/detail.html) That’s some nasty shit there. ☹ I hope your friend has a speedy recovery.