A prevalence study of antibodies to<i>Legionella</i>spp. in geriatric institutions

Boldur, I; Ergaz, M; Sompolinsky, D

doi:10.1017/s0022172400064007

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Healthy populations across geographically diverse parts of the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, and former Soviet states display a large variation in seroprevalence for all legionellae, which additionally supports a reexamination of local Legionella exposures and the value of Lp1-specific UATs for diagnosing most LD cases (153)(154)(155)(156)(157)(158)(159)(289)(290)(291)(292)(293)(294)(295)(296)(297)(298)(299)(300)(301)(302)(303). This underscores a pressing need for the development of more inclusive Legionella rapid diagnostics; to be useful in a basic laboratory or POC setting, a pan-Legionella UAT would ostensibly be as simple to perform as current tests while detecting additional species and serogroups with similar efficiencies.…”

Section: Urinary Antigen Testmentioning

confidence: 93%

Current and Emerging Legionella Diagnostics for Laboratory and Outbreak Investigations

2015

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SUMMARY Legionnaires' disease (LD) is an often severe and potentially fatal form of bacterial pneumonia caused by an extensive list of Legionella species. These ubiquitous freshwater and soil inhabitants cause human respiratory disease when amplified in man-made water or cooling systems and their aerosols expose a susceptible population. Treatment of sporadic cases and rapid control of LD outbreaks benefit from swift diagnosis in concert with discriminatory bacterial typing for immediate epidemiological responses. Traditional culture and serology were instrumental in describing disease incidence early in its history; currently, diagnosis of LD relies almost solely on the urinary antigen test, which captures only the dominant species and serogroup, Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp1). This has created a diagnostic “blind spot” for LD caused by non-Lp1 strains. This review focuses on historic, current, and emerging technologies that hold promise for increasing LD diagnostic efficiency and detection rates as part of a coherent testing regimen. The importance of cooperation between epidemiologists and laboratorians for a rapid outbreak response is also illustrated in field investigations conducted by the CDC with state and local authorities. Finally, challenges facing health care professionals, building managers, and the public health community in combating LD are highlighted, and potential solutions are discussed.

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Section: Urinary Antigen Testmentioning

confidence: 93%

Current and Emerging Legionella Diagnostics for Laboratory and Outbreak Investigations

2015

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“…These fastidious Gram-negative bacteria are ubiquitous in water and soil environments. Both circumstantial and experimental evidence (Baskerville et al, 1981) indicates that legionellae are transmitted through aerosolization of water sources into human population environments such as hospitals, hotels, and similar institutions (Boldur and Ergaz, 1984;Storch et al, 1979). These organisms have been isolated from hospital water supply systems, humidifiers, reservoirs, and even shower heads and water faucets (Zuravleff et al, 1983;and Stout et al, 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of Legionella-specific IgG and IgM Antibody in a Dental Clinic Population

et al. 1985

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This study was undertaken to determine the frequency of Legionella infection in a dental clinic setting. Serum samples from 270 dental clinic personnel were evaluated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect Legionella-specific IgM and IgG antibodies. The pooled-species whole-cell-antigen preparation used in these assays was derived from six Legionella pneumophila strains and one strain each from Legionella bozemanii and Legionella micdadei. Significant levels of IgG and IgM antibodies were found in 20% and 16%, respectively, of the samples. This compares with 8% and 10%, respectively, for a randomly selected non-clinical group from the region (P less than 0.005). Samples from clinic personnel with significant IgG titers (greater than 1:128) were also evaluated for activity to each of the eight single-species antigens, with the following results: L. pneumophila, 45% (combined six strains); L. micdadei, 37%; and L. bozemanii, 18%. Comparing individuals' "years spent in the clinic environment" with the incidence of significant antibody levels strongly suggests that the risk of Legionella infection increases proportionately with increased clinic exposure time (P less than 0.05). Analysis of these data implies that Legionella may be present in the dental clinic environment, thus creating an increased risk for clinical personnel or patients.

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“…No difference was found between patients with high or low concentrations of IgE. 18 For all these reasons we did not establish cut off limits for seropositivity, but we compared the percentage of asthmatic children seroreacting with a particular titre with the percentage of healthy children seroreacting with the same titre.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum antibodies to Legionella agents in bronchial asthma.

Beer¹,

Boldur²,

Kazak³

et al. 1985

Archives of Disease in Childhood

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SUMMARY The prevalence of seropositivity to Legionella species was studied in 184 children with bronchial asthma and 80 control children, age and sex matched, without respiratory tract infections. The sera were examined by indirect immunofluorescence with antigens of six Legionella species. The asthmatic children showed a significantly high percentage of seroreactions to L pneumophila compared with the control children. In the asthmatic children, no association was found between age, sex, onset of asthmatic symptoms, living conditions, corticosteroid treatment, or exposure to aerosols and seropositivity to Legionella. No relation could be found between the asthma severity score and the titre of serum antibodies to L pneumophila.None of the 32 sera with titres of 1:256 or higher were reactive for Legionella specific IgE antibodies.A high prevalence of antibodies to L pneumophila was found in children suffering bronchial asthma. Further studies are necessary to clarify the clinical relevance.

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A prevalence study of antibodies toLegionellaspp. in geriatric institutions

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Current and Emerging Legionella Diagnostics for Laboratory and Outbreak Investigations

Current and Emerging Legionella Diagnostics for Laboratory and Outbreak Investigations

Prevalence of Legionella-specific IgG and IgM Antibody in a Dental Clinic Population

Serum antibodies to Legionella agents in bronchial asthma.

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