Even if such diseases are affecting an increasing number of human populations across the world, awareness and information regarding them still remain in the medical textbooks and among the professionals in the industry. It is high time that they get to the public with proper guidance regarding the signs, symptoms, and prevention techniques.
In this article, we will discuss every section of this particular disease in detail and help you keep this infection at bay and be safe. Apart from all these, this will also enlighten you regarding some of the lesser-known details regarding the same.
What Is Legionnaires?
Legionnaires is an infection that looks and feels just like a case of pneumonia. And the most critical thing about the infection is also the same. Sometimes, patients or doctors fail to identify the disease and treat it just like a usual pneumonia case. But things take a different turn only when the symptoms get worse and uncontrollable. Legionnaires infect your lungs and legionella is the name of the bacteria causing the infection.
The bacteria reach the human body through inhalation. And they can be mostly found in water or soil. To a relative degree, smokers and older people are more prone to get infected by this disease.
If you are someone with a weak immune system, you also do not belong to the safe zone. Along with the symptoms of pneumonia, it may also cause a kind of fever in the affected individuals. This can be termed as Pontiac fever in medical terms.
This flu will have close resemblances with the ordinary flu, again causing complications in the proper diagnosis of the disease. Pontiac fever will not remain for a longer period, and there are hardly any chances for it to get connected and analyzed with the symptoms of pneumonia.
If you are not getting the required treatment at the right time, the condition can get worse to the maximum limit and even steal the life away. On the other hand, if you succeed in suspecting the infection, seek medical help, get diagnosed, and take the antibiotic medication without fail, the chances of a speedy recovery are comparatively higher.
However, it is also important not to neglect the chances of being irritated with some symptoms and illnesses even after the treatment. Such illnesses may take a significant period to subside.
Signs And Symptoms
According to the experts, there would be a 2-10 days gap after your exposure to the infecting bacteria, that is legionella. Eventually, you may start developing symptoms such as the following;
- Unbearable muscle cramps
- Headaches
- Fever with an exceedingly higher body temperature
The signs of pneumonia and other serious issues would only start to turn up after this period. This may include issues and illnesses such as;
- Severe cough and you may also notice the presence of blood in your mucus
- Chest pain
- Breathing difficulty or shortness of breath
- Gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.
- Mental health issues including confusion and lag
If you are not provided with the right treatment, sometimes the infection may also reach your heart after affecting the lungs. Apart from the heart, this infection may also cause wounds in many other parts of the body. These cannot be identified easily, since most of them would be internal wounds.
Prevention Techniques
As we have already mentioned, the major means of infection of this particular disease-causing bacteria is through inhalation. The bacterial population is mostly seen in contaminated water and soil.
Hence one of the most important ways to prevent the risk of getting infected with the disease or to control its spread is to make sure that there are not no water bodies with polluted water near your surroundings.
However, it is also important to quit destructive habits such as smoking which may increase the risk of infection as well as fatality, once you get infected with the same.
Wrap Up
Now, that is all you need to know about the disease, Legionnaires, the bacteria legionella causing the infection, commonly found signs and symptoms in the infected individuals, and some of the most effective preventive measures that you may adopt to take care of yourselves and those around you. To stay away from such infections, build the habit of strengthening your immune system through diet and lifestyle changes, since most similar infections come uninvited and unpredicted.
