Legionella Articles
New data presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that there has been a significant increase in the number of cases of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria (legionellosis). The analysis showed that the number of reported cases increased by 70% since 2002.
"Public health professionals should focus increased attention on detection and prevention of this important and increasing public health problem."
Increasing Incidence of Legionellosis in the United
States, 1990–2005: Changing Epidemiologic Trends
CID 2008:47
September 2008
This article addresses the activities of advisory groups in dealing with
Legionella, including The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air
Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Cooling Technology Institute (CTI).
"Major corporations in America are confronting the legionellosis issue more
seriously because of greater awareness that there could be a problem and
recent high-dollar lawsuits."
Legionella: An Invisible Risk
Reprinted with permission from CEP (Chemical Engineering Progress)
April 2008
What is the significance of “viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria in water which can be detected by molecular probes and by physiological activity? The VBNC state has been demonstrated for Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio and Legionella pneumophila. The article by Rebecca Smith and colleagues provides concrete evidence that these VBNC bacteria may not pose a threat as a hidden reservoir of infectious disease.
Alive But Not Infectious
THE LANCET Infectious Diseases
We performed Legionella testing as part of a multi-center study at VA facilities. The results were published in the Journal of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
Role of environmental surveillance in determining the risk of
hospital-acquired legionellosis: a national surveillance study with clinical
correlations
Stout JE, Muder RR, Mietzner S, Wagener MM, et al.
CONCLUSION: Environmental monitoring followed by clinical surveillance was
successful in uncovering previously unrecognized cases of hospital-acquired
Legionella pneumonia.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2007 Jul;28(7):818-24
This article discusses the role of environmental surveillance in the
prevention of hospital-acquired Legionnaires' disease and calls for
multi-center studies to explore the relationship between Legionella
colonization and disease.
Surveillance of hospital water and primary prevention of nosocomial
legionellosis: what is the evidence?
O'Neill E, Humphreys H.
J Hosp Infect. 2005 Apr;59(4):273-9.
CONCLUSION: Centres with transplant units or other patients with
significant immunosuppression should, in the interim, consider routine
sampling for legionella in hospital water in addition to other control
measures. Therefore, infection control teams must work closely with hospital
engineering and technical services departments and hospital management, as
well as ensuring that physicians and others have a heightened awareness of
hospital-acquired legionellosis.
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