Rebound mortality rate of Legionella pneumonia in Japan

Mari Yamasue; Kosaku Komiya; Takeshi Kinjo; Akihiro Ito; Tetsuo Yamaguchi; Naoki Iwanaga; Makoto Ishii; Kazuhiro Tateda; Kazuyoshi Kawakami

doi:10.1016/j.resinv.2023.04.005

Rebound mortality rate of Legionella pneumonia in Japan

Respir Investig. 2023 Jul;61(4):487-489. doi: 10.1016/j.resinv.2023.04.005. Epub 2023 May 18.

Authors

Mari Yamasue¹, Kosaku Komiya², Takeshi Kinjo³, Akihiro Ito⁴, Tetsuo Yamaguchi⁵, Naoki Iwanaga⁶, Makoto Ishii⁷, Kazuhiro Tateda⁵, Kazuyoshi Kawakami⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Oita University, Oita, Japan.
² Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Oita University, Oita, Japan; The Research Center for GLOBAL and LOCAL Infectious Diseases, Oita University, Oita, Japan. Electronic address: komiyakh1@oita-u.ac.jp.
³ First Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious, Respiratory, and Digestive Medicine, University of the Ryukyus Graduate School of Medicine, Okinawa, Japan.
⁴ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ohara Healthcare Foundation, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan.
⁵ Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
⁷ Division of Respiratory Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
⁸ Department of Medical Microbiology, Mycology and Immunology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Miyagi, Japan.

PMID: 37209431
DOI: 10.1016/j.resinv.2023.04.005

Abstract

Legionella pneumonia is a fatal disease caused by Legionella pneumophila, a bacterium belonging to the genus Legionella. The incidence of this disease has been increasing since 2005 and has continued to increase following the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Furthermore, Legionella pneumonia mortality rates have increased slightly since the pandemic due to some plausible reasons. The increased proportion of older patients with legionellosis might affect it because advanced age is a major risk factor for disease mortality. Additionally, physicians were focused on COVID-19 while examining febrile patients; therefore, they might have missed the early diagnosis of other respiratory infections, including Legionella pneumonia.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Elderly; Legionella pneumonia; Mortality.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Japan / epidemiology
Legionella*
Legionnaires' Disease* / epidemiology
Legionnaires' Disease* / microbiology
Pandemics