Epidemiology of mild pneumonia.

Clinicians define mild pneumonia as patients who are "not too sick," have normal respiratory and mental status, and are able to maintain oral intake. As yet there is no uniform definition of mild pneumonia. By inference, mild pneumonia occurs in younger patients with less comorbidity and has a better outcome than pneumonia that is moderate to severe.

Pathogenesis and immunology of Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeriosis is primarily a foodborne disease and the pathogenesis of infection is determined by passage of the organism from the gastrointestinal lumen to the reticuloendothelial cells of the liver and spleen. Subsequent invasive events such as sepsis and meningitis develop. The immune response to Listeria is characterized by early macrophage mediated killing followed by the development of a brisk cell mediated immune response.

Chlamydia pneumoniae pneumonia: An evolving clinical spectrum.

Chlamydia pneumoniae is a recently recognized respiratory tract pathogen. It accounts for 6 to 10% of all cases of community acquired pneumonia requiring admission to hospital. Two patients hospitalized with C pneumoniae pneumonia are presented to illustrate its range of severity and the extrapulmonary manifestations.

Serological investigation of pneumonia as it presents to the physician's office.

Purpose: To define the etiology of pneumonia, using a battery of serological tests, among patients presenting to physicians' offices in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia from July 2, 1989 to July 1, 1990.

Methods: Patients presenting to their physician's office with symptoms suggestive of pneumonia were invited to participate in the study by completing a questionnaire, having a chest radiograph and providing acute and convalescent phase serum samples. These serum samples were tested for antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Coxiella burnetii, Legionella pneumophila, adenovirus, and influenza viruses A and B.