I’m wondering if I still need to go to urgent care even if the 6 day fever stopped? Twelve days ago, I was exposed to an old window AC unit for 2 hours trying to sleep in a hot room (visiting a friend) in Portland, Oregon. Within about 20 minutes, I had a headache, and after 2 hours, felt bad, and turned the AC off. Four days later, the fever started. The next day, I had a cough and chills. I was totally out of it for 6 days with what felt like high fever. I was able to do infrared sauna each day for 30 minutes (because I have a health center and teach it), and then slept the rest of time. I also did a nettie pot, drank tons of water/coconut water, took a high dose of zinc, magnesium, and raw whole food powder shake. I ate little, mostly some fruit. I still had a serious cough, fever, chills, all over pain, nausea, and was totally out of it and could not think. Today is 7 days from the start of the fever. The fever is gone and my thinking is clearer, but I still have a serious cough, and if I get up, I need to lay down again soon, so I am wondering if I need to go to urgent care since I just read about what an AC unit can do to you and if I could have Legionnaires’ disease even though the fever stopped. Could I be healing on my own and avoid antibiotics?
It is unlikely that a window AC unit would be a source of Legionella. The urine antigen test for the diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease will remain positive well into the infection. If you see a physician, you could request this test and the result would still be meaningful even after 2-4 weeks after the onset of pneumonia due to Legionella bacteria (Legionnaires’ disease). You should probably also have the physician evaluate you for pneumonia (chest x-ray) and then determine if antibiotic therapy is needed.