Legionnaires' disease on symptom onset dates from past outbreaks. In this way, the eventual likely size of an outbreak can be predicted, enabling efficient and effective use of public health resources in managing an outbreak. The first recognized cases of Legionnaires' disease occurred in 1976 in Philadelphia; among more than 2000 attendees of an American Legion convention held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, 182 attendees contracted the disease and 29 of them died. In April 1985, 175 people in Stafford, England, were admitted to the District or Kingsmead Stafford Hospitals with chest infection or pneumonia. A total of 28 people died. Medical diagnosis
Legionella The side chains of the cell wall carry the bases responsible for the somatic antigen specificity of these organisms. The chemical composition of these side chains both with respect to components and arrangement of the different sugars determines the nature of the somatic or O antigen determinants, which are essential means of serologically classifying many Gram-negative bacteria. "Legionella" acquired its name after an outbreak of a then-unknown "mystery disease" sickened 221 persons, causing 34 deaths. The outbreak was first noticed among people attending a convention of the American Legion—an association of U.S. military veterans. The convention occurred in Philadelphia during