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
Hospital-acquired pneumonia diabetes). The number of residents in long term care facilities is expected to rise dramatically over the next 30 years. These older adults are known to develop pneumonia 10 times more than their community-dwelling peers, and hospital admittance rates are 30 times higher. Nursing home-acquired pneumonia is an important subgroup of HCAP. Residents of long term care facilities may become infected through their contacts with the healthcare system; as such, the microbes responsible for their pneumonias may be different from those traditionally seen in community-dwelling patients, requiring therapy with different antibiotics. Other groups include patients who are admitted as a