Atypical pneumonia

Atypical pneumonia is a term used to describe a diseasecaused by one or a combination of the following organisms:

Legionella pneumophila

Causes a severe from of pneumonia with a relatively high mortality rate.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Usually occurs in younger age groups and may be associated with neurological and systemic (e.g. rashes) symptoms.

Chlamydophila pneumoniae

Mild form of pneumonia with relatively mild symptoms.

Symptoms include pyrexia, shortness of breath, laboured breathing, cough, arthralgia(joint pain), malaise, loss of appetite, confusion, rash, and diarrhoea.

Treatment is with oral antibioticsand diagnosis is confirmed by bloodcultures and sputumsamples.

Prognosis is usually good and is influenced by ageand immunosuppression.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS) was also considered a kind of atypical pneumonia, and is still called so in China.

zh-cn:非典型肺炎

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atypical+pneumonia Wikipedia article Atypical pneumonia.