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
Pneumonia adults began in 1977, and in children in 2000, resulting in a similar decline. Due to the relatively low awareness of the disease, 12 November was declared as the annual World Pneumonia Day, a day for concerned citizens and policy makers to take action against the disease, in 2009. The global economic cost of community-acquired pneumonia has been estimated at $17 billion annually. Other estimates are considerably higher. In 2012 the estimated aggregate costs of treating pneumonia in the United States were $20 billion; the median cost of a single pneumonia-related hospitalization is over $15,000. According to data released by