Legionella, WIGA, et cetera: Pathogens?
Authors: HENRY D. ISENBERG
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1979)

Editorial Notes1 November 1979Legionella, WIGA, et cetera: Pathogens?HENRY D. ISENBERG, PH.D.HENRY D. ISENBERG, PH.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-91-5-785 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptAny complacencies on prokaryotic involvement in infection received quite a jolt with the discovery ofLegionella pneumophila. The establishment of a causal relation between the bacterium and legionellosis heralded the involvement of other, as yet unknown, bacteria in human disease, if one accepts the hypothesis that advancing technology will expose all of us to members of the seemingly endless microbial pool extant in nature. And now the rediscovery of WIGA, described by Thomason and her co-workers in this issue (1), and the report by Pasculle and colleagues (2) of quite a different bacterium from the pneumonias of two renal-transplant patients...References1. THOMASONHARRISHICKLINBLACKMONMOSSMATTHEWS BPMJCF. A Legionella-like bacterium related to WIGA in a fatal case of pneumonia. Ann Intern Med. 1979;91:673-6. LinkGoogle Scholar2. PASCULLEMYEROWITZRINALDO ARC. New bacterial agent of pneumonia isolated from renal-transplant recipients. Lancet. 1979;2:58-61. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. ISENBERG H. Microbiology of Legionnaires' disease bacterium. Ann Intern Med. 1979;90:502-5. LinkGoogle Scholar4. MCDADEBRENNERBOZEMAN JDF. Legionnaires' disease bacterium isolated in 1947. Ann Intern Med. 1979;90:659-61. LinkGoogle Scholar5. LAMANNAMALETTEZIMMERMAN CML. Basic Bacteriology, 4th ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co.; 1973:141-62. Google Scholar6. STARR M. Plant-associated bacteria as human pathogens: disciplinal insularity, ambilateral harmfulness, epistemological primacy. Ann Intern Med. 1979;90:708-10. LinkGoogle Scholar7. WILSONMILES GA. Topley and Wilson's Principles of Bacteriology and Immunity. 6th ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co.; 1975:1228-30. Google Scholar8. KOCH R. Die Aetiologie der Tuberkulose. Mitt Kaiserlich Gesundheit. 1889;2:1-88. Google Scholar9. SMITH T. Parasitism and Disease. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 1934. Google Scholar10. DUBOS R, ed. The evolution and ecology of microbial diseases. In: Bacterial and Mycotic Infections of Man. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.; 1958:14-27. Google Scholar11. ISENBERG H. Laboratory diagnosis of nosocomial disease. Infect Dis Rev. 1974;3:1-20. Google Scholar12. ISENBERGBALOWS HA. Bacterial pathogenicity for man and animals. In: STARR MP, STOLP H, TRUPER HG, BALOWS A, SCHLEGEL HG, eds. The Prokaryotes. New York: Springer-Verlag; in press. Google Scholar13. BELLOC H. The microbe. In: WELLS C, ed. The Book of Humorous Verse. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company; 1936:907. Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited by“Where we’ve been and where we may be going”Pathogenicity and virulence: another viewInfection and chronic rheumatic disease in childrenLetter to the editor 1 November 1979Volume 91, Issue 5Page: 785-786KeywordsBacteriaLegionellaLegionella pneumophilaLegionellosisPathogensPneumonia Issue Published: 1 November 1979 PDF downloadLoading ...