Legionellosis (Legionnaires' Disease)

A severe pneumonia triggered by Legionella — bacteria that multiply in warm, stagnant water. High fever, chills, shortness of breath, a cough that feels as though your chest is being squeezed from the inside. Medically, legionellosis is a serious infectious disease that may require intensive care. Life-threatening — no question.

And yet the psychosomatic perspective asks a question that reaches beyond the pathogen: Why now? Why you? Not everyone who is exposed to Legionella falls ill. There are people who breathe in the same contaminated water mist — and nothing happens. The question about the pathogen is legitimate. But the question about the breeding ground is equally so. What in your inner life prepared the soil on which this infection could take hold?