Determinant of 30-Day Mortality of Pulmonary Legionellosis: Do Coinfections Matter?

Takahiro Matsuo; Sebastian Wurster; Ying Jiang; Jeffrey Tarrand; Scott E Evans; Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofae529

Determinant of 30-Day Mortality of Pulmonary Legionellosis: Do Coinfections Matter?

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2024 Sep 12;11(9):ofae529. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae529. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Authors

Takahiro Matsuo¹, Sebastian Wurster¹, Ying Jiang¹, Jeffrey Tarrand², Scott E Evans³, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
² Section of Clinical Microbiology and Virology, Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
³ Department of Pulmonology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

Abstract

We retrospectively reviewed 64 cases of cancer with pulmonary legionellosis (Legionella pneumophila in 73%). Nearly all patients received Legionella-active antibiotics, yet 30-day mortality was 23%. Independent predictors of 30-day mortality were hyponatremia, bilateral lung involvement, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score ≥5. Lung coinfections were common (31%) but did not significantly increase mortality.

Keywords: Legionella; cancer; coinfections; mortality outcomes; pneumonia.