Legionnaires' disease Legion convention in 1976 was high (29 deaths in 182 infected individuals) because the antibiotics used (including penicillins, cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides) had poor intracellular penetration. Mortality has plunged to less than 5% if therapy is started quickly. Delay in giving the appropriate antibiotic leads to higher mortality. The fatality rate of Legionnaires' disease has ranged from 5 to 30% during various outbreaks and approaches 50% for nosocomial infections, especially when treatment with antibiotics is delayed. Hospital-acquired "Legionella" pneumonia has a fatality rate of 28%, and the principal source of infection in such cases is the drinking-water distribution system. Legionnaires' disease
Classification of pneumonia such as MRSA, "Pseudomonas", "Enterobacter", and "Serratia". Because individuals with hospital-acquired pneumonia usually have underlying illnesses and are exposed to more dangerous bacteria, it tends to be more deadly than community-acquired pneumonia. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a subset of hospital-acquired pneumonia. VAP is pneumonia which occurs after at least 48 hours of intubation and mechanical ventilation. Pneumonia has historically been characterized as either typical or atypical depending on the presenting symptoms and thus the presumed underlying organism. Attempting to make this distinction based on symptoms however has not been found to be accurate and The American Thoracic Society does not