How does it overcome body's defenses?

• Position: Legionnaires' Disease - Brief article

It begins with flu-like symptoms but, within days, a victim of Legionnaires' disease may experience severe chest pain, bloody coughing, and even death. The illness, a severe type of pneumonia, affects only a small percentage of the population, but up to 30% of hospitalized cases can be fatal, and survivors often take a long time to recover.

University of Georgia, Athens, researcher Vincent Starai--an assistant professor who holds a joint appointment with the Departments of Microbiology in the College of Arts and Sciences and Infectious Diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine--is investigating how the bacterium Legionella pneumophila, which causes the disease, overcomes the body's defenses.

Between 8,000-18,000 people are hospitalized in the U.S. with Legionnaires' disease each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga. The bacteria exist naturally in the environment, but proliferate in still, warm water in poorly maintained ventilation and water systems such as cooling towers, hotel shower heads, hot...