Legionnaires' Disease in a Prepaid Medical-Care Group in Seattle 1963-75

Foy, Hjordis M.; Hayes, P J; Cooney, MarionK; Broome, C V; Allan, Inez; Tobe, Robert

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(79)91219-4

Cited by 66 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…On the basis of the 70% sensitivity and the 99% specificity (assuming that the one positive result in the pulmonary infection control group was a real false positive) found in our study group for the latex agglutination test, both the positive and negative predictive values would be greater than 90% if the incidence of legionnaires' disease were between 12, and 26% in the population tested (33). On the other hånd, if the test were performed on all patients with pneumonia, with an estimated 1 °/o incidence of serogroup 1 L. pneumophila infections (27), the predictive value of a positive result would be 41 % and of a negative value 99%. The predictive value of a positive result even in this population would be higher if the one positive result in our control groups was actually a true positive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Twelve other pulmonary control patients for whom serologic data were not available had negative cultures and/or direct fluorescent antibody testing of respiratory specimens for L. pneumophila. Sixteen other pulmonary control subjects were immunocompetent patients with communityacquired bacterial pneumonia; the chance of their having cpncurrent legionnaires' disease was probably less than 1% (27).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rapid Diagnosis of Legionnaires’ Disease by Latex Agglutination^1,²

Sathapatayavongs¹,

Rb²,

Lj³

et al. 1983

Am Rev Respir Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We developed a latex agglutination test to detect antigen(s) of serogroup 1 Legionella pneumophila in urine and evaluated its ability to diagnose legionnaires' disease. Antigen was detected in 46, or 70%, of 66 patients with serogroup 1 legionnaires' disease but in none of 51 patients with various bacteremic infections nor 60 with urinary tract infections. One of 50 patients with other pulmonary infections was antigen-positive, an immunosuppressed patient with Pneumocystis carinii infection. Seven other patients infected with P. carinii were negative. When compared with radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using serial dilutions of a single antigen-containing urine, latex agglutination was 16-fold less sensitive. However, 82% of RIA- or ELISA-positive specimens were positive by latex agglutination. Latex agglutination is simpler and more rapid than ELISA or RIA, and it should prove valuable in situations where ELISA or RIA are unavailable or unaffordable.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Diagnosis of Legionnaires’ Disease by Latex Agglutination^1,²

Sathapatayavongs¹,

Rb²,

Lj³

et al. 1983

Am Rev Respir Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Because this disease can be difficult to diagnose, it is probably under reported. It is estimated that Legionellosis affects 25,000-100,000 persons annually in the United States [68]. Serologic surveys indicate that many people in the general population have antibodies to legionellae suggesting previous infection or exposure [17,43,44].…”

Section: Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key retrospective study conducted by Foy et al [68] used stored paired sera from 500 patients treated for pneumonia from 1963-1975 in Seattle, Washington Legionella Ecology 207 to determine the community incidence of Legionnaires' disease. Based on 1% of the patients showing a fourfold rise in antibody titer to the Legionnaires' disease antigen, the incidence of Legionnaires' disease was estimated to be 0.4-2.8 cases per 10,000 persons in the population per year.…”

Section: Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology of Legionella: From data to knowledge with a little wisdom

Fliermans

1996

Microb Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The respiratory diseases produced by the Legionella genus of bacteria are collectively called Legionellosis. Presently more than 34 species of Legionella have been identified, 20 of which have been isolated from both environmental and clinical sources. The diseases produced by Legionella include the pneumonic form, Legionnaires' disease, and the flu-like form, Pontiac fever. Because the vast majority of Legionellosis is caused by the L.pneumophila species, this bacterium is the thrust of the discussion.Legionella is a global bacterium. The relationship of the bacterium to its environment has told us many things about infectious diseases. Not until Legionellosis and the discovery of its etiologic agent, Legionella, has such a successful modern-day marriage been consummated between the agent and its environment. Nearly two decades have passed since the term Legionellosis found its way into the vocabulary of the scientific journals, the popular press, and courtroom proceedings. Too often the scientific development, engineering implementation, and societal acceptance are disconnected. The focus of scientific research sometimes does not reflect engineering or societal needs and thus contributes little to the solution of immediate and important problems. At other times, scientific knowledge that could contribute to solutions is overlooked because of poor communication between the problem holders, the scientific community, regulatory agencies, the problem makers, and the public.The scope of this paper provides insights on the ecological niche of Legionella, describes the organism's ecological relationships in the natural world, and provides wisdom for effective control of the bacterium for the industrial and user communities.

show abstract

“…Foy et al (1979) examined sera from 354 adults and 146 children with pneumonia in Seattle between 1963 and 1975, only 16 % of whom were ill enough for admission to hospital. Five adults and no children had serologically proved Legionnaires' disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%