Nonpneumonic, short-incubation-period Legionellosis (Pontiac fever) in men who cleaned a steam turbine condenser.

Pontiac fever affected ten men who had cleaned a steam turbine condenser with compressed air. Previous epidemics of Pontiac fever and Legionnaires' disease--both caused by Legionella Pneumophila (proposed sp. nov.)--involved "airborne spread" from air-conditioning cooling towers or evaporative condensers. Aerosols of contaminated water in heat-rejection systems appear to be important sources of epidemic legionellosis.

An outbreak of type 4b Listeria monocytogenes infection involving patients from eight Boston hospitals.

During September and October 1979, 23 patients admitted to hospitals in the Boston area had systemic Listeria monocytogenes infection. Twenty (87%) of these isolates were L monocytogenes type 4b, whereas only nine (33%) of the isolates serotyped during the preceding 26 months had been 4b. Patients with type 4b Listeria infection during the epidemic period (case patients) differed from patients with sporadic Listeria infection in the preceding two years in that more of the case patients had hospital-acquired infection (15/20 vs 4/18), had received antacids or cimetidine before the onset of listeriosis (12/20 vs 3/18), and had gastrointestinal tract symptoms that began at the same time as fever (17/20 vs 4/18). In addition, more case patients took antacids or cimetidine compared with patients matched for age, sex, and date of hospitalization (12/20 vs 10/40). Three foods were preferred by case patients more frequently than by control patients: tuna fish, chicken salad, and cheese. However, the only common feature appeared to be the serving of these foods with raw celery, tomatoes, and lettuce. The raw vegetables may have been contaminated with Listeria, which was able to survive ingestion because of gastric acid neutralization and subsequently to cause enteritis, bacteremia, and meningitis in susceptible hosts. However, we cannot exclude pasteurized milk as a source of this outbreak.

Disseminated actinomycosis with spinal cord compression: report of two cases.

We studied two patients with vertebral actinomycosis and symptoms of spinal cord compression. Both patients had a chronic illness characterized by multiple draining skin lesions, weight loss, and progressive leg weakness. They responded to antibiotic therapy and corticosteroids without neurosurgical intervention. The patients were treated with antibiotics for 12 months, and remained well, without major neurologic disorder, for 2 years after stopping medication.

Bacteria newly recognized as nosocomial pathogens.

Bacteria recently recognized as nosocomial pathogens generally fall into three categories: those that grow slowly, those that are fastidious in their nutritional or atmospheric requirements and those that resemble commensals. Each characteristic has contributed to the delay in perceiving their importance. Mycobacterium chelonei and Myco. fortuitum--which grow slowly, although characterized as "rapid-growing" mycobacteria--cause sternal osteomyelitis, pericarditis and endocarditis after cardiac surgery as well as other wound infections after many types of surgery. Myco. chelonei-like organisms have been found to cause "sterile" peritonitis in patients receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis. Legionella pneumophila and L. micdadei are fastidious bacteria that were more difficult to detect because they stain poorly with the Gram method. They cause pneumonia and lung abscess, especially in immunocompromised people. Clostridium difficile is an anaerobe that causes toxin-mediated pseudomembranous colitis in persons given antibiotics that inhibit competing gut bacteria. Chylamydia trachomatis, an intracellular organism that has not been grown in vitro, causes pneumonia and conjunctivitis in young infants who acquire the organism from their mothers at birth. Group JK bacteria cause septicemia in patients whose immune responses have been suppressed and must be distinguished from "diphtheroid" contaminants in blood cultures. Clinicians, microbiologists and epidemiologists must be alert to the characteristics of these organisms that make them easily overlooked and should also anticipate the existence of other bacteria not yet identified.

Sporadic and epidemic nosocomial legionellosis in the United States. Epidemiologic features.

As of April 30, 1980, 83 nosocomial cases of sporadic legionellosis had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In all 83 cases the patients had pneumonia; the median age of the patients was 56.5 years. All but one patient were hospitalized at the time of onset. Of 71 patients for whom the outcome is known, 22 (31 percent) died of causes directly attributed to their infection. Eleven patients had end-stage renal disease, 28 were receiving systemic immunosuppressive medications, 17 had cancer, 12 had chronic bronchitis or emphysema, 29 were smokers, and four had diabetes mellitus. Risks of acquiring nosocomial sporadic legionellosis for patients with these conditions relative to the general United States population = 340, 26, 11, 3.7, 1.9 and 1.3, respectively. These risk factors are similar to those identified for sporadic community-acquired legionellosis and for epidemic nosocomial legionellosis. Methods for preventing nosocomial legionellosis are not known, but comparing Legionella to other water-associated organisms which have been spread from medical devices to cause pneumonia may be fruitful.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis in university hospital personnel. Clinical features.

Clinical manifestations of lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus infection in 15 patients are described. These patients were University Hospital personnel who had had contact with hamsters, subsequently shown to harbor the virus. Fever with striking myalgias, headache and rigors were the most common symptoms. Only 2 of the 15 patients had clinically overt and documented aseptic meningitis. Leuikpenia was observed in 10 of 11 patients and thrombocytopenia in 8 of 8 patients tested. A biphasic illness was seen in eight patients. In a patient who has been exposed to laboratory animals, particularly to hamsters, a nonspecific influenza-like febrile illness accompanied by leukopenia and thrombocytopenia may represent LCM virus infection.

An explosive outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in a summer camp.

An outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection occurred in the summer of 1978 in a boys' camp in northern Wisconsin and affected 139 of 196 persons (71%); 115 (59%) had laboratory evidence of infection. In 77% of the cases, onset of disease occurred within three weeks after arrival at camp, in contrast to the usually indolent spread of the disease. Attack rates decreased with increasing age. The sensitivity of serology for detecting M pneumoniae disease may have been as low as 79%. There was shorter duration of cough in those treated with erythromycin within four days after onset of symptoms.

Potable water as a source for legionellosis.

Several lines of evidence have been examined in attempts to implicate potable water as a source for legionellosis. Success has been mixed. The strongest evidence has been the similarity of strains recovered from patients and from potable water and the cessation of outbreaks following institution of measures to eradicate Legionella from potable water systems. Epidemiologic efforts to identify the effective mode of exposure to water (e.g. ingestion) have been remarkably unsuccessful. Although L pneumophila can clearly be acquired on occasion from potable water, the proportion of cases traceable to this source is unknown, as is the role of potable water as a source of infection by other Legionellae. Hyperchlorination, raising hot water temperatures to greater than 55 degrees C, and replacing rubber gaskets are useful methods for controlling outbreaks of legionellosis traced to potable water systems but are not yet justified as routine preventative methods in the absence of such an outbreak.

Lack of observed association between armadillo contact and leprosy in humans.

In 1971 it was discovered that the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) could be infected in the laboratory with Mycobacterium leprae, and would manifest disease similar to the lepromatous form of leprosy in man. In 1975 several wild armadillos captured in Louisiana were found to have a disease identical to the M. laprae infection in laboratory animals. To determine if there is a significant association between contact with armadillos and presence of leprosy in humans, the armadillo contact of persons with indigenous leprosy in Louisiana was compared to the contact of matched controls. No difference in the nature or frequency of contact was found. If this infection of wild armadillos is of recent onset, an association with human leprosy in enzootic areas may not be detectable for several years.

Unmet needs and unused skills: physicians' reflections on their liberal arts education.

Physicians who graduated from 1955 to 1982 from three liberal arts colleges in southeastern Pennsylvania were asked about the ways that their undergraduate education had prepared or failed to prepare them for careers in medicine and about changes that they would, in retrospect, have made in their courses of undergraduate study. For many, college had failed to meet their perceived need, as physicians, for skill in dealing with people, but had provided skills in the form of basic science knowledge and willingness to be different that exceeded the demands of their careers. They wished that in college they had taken more courses in the humanities--especially art, history, music, and English literature--and less chemistry, mathematics, physics, and biology. Would-be physicians should be encouraged to take full advantage of the humanizing opportunities of a liberal arts education with confidence that it will contribute to their future professional and personal lives.