PEDIATRICS Vol. 68 No. 4 October 1981, pp. 539-543
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Pediatric Legionnaires' Disease: Diagnosis by Direct Immunofluorescent Staining of Sputum

Randall Sturm MD1, Joseph L. Staneck PhD1, Joseph P. Myers MD1, Hazel W. Wilkinson PhD1, Carol M. Cottrill MD1, and Richard B. Towbin MD1

1 Infectious Disease Division, Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati; Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Special Immunology Laboratory, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta; Department of Pediatrics, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington; and Departments of Radiology and Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Legionnaires' disease occurred in a 3-year-old boy with Down's syndrome. His illness was characterized by bilateral pneumonia, high fever, and response to erythromycin. The diagnosis was made by demonstrating Legionella pneumophila, serogroup 1, in sputum with a direct fluorescent antibody stain. L pneumophila antigen was detected in urine by an enzyme-linked immunospecific assay. The diagnosis was confirmed by a more than fourfold rise in serum antibody titer. Although Legionnaires' disease appears to be uncommon in children, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of pneumonia in the immunocompromised child.

Submitted on September 8, 1980
Accepted on January 20, 1981