Legionnaires' Disease in a Transplant Unit: Isolation of the Causative Agent From Shower Baths

Tobin, J. O'h.; Dunnill, M. S.; French, Morris L. V.; Morris, Peter J.; Beare, Jason E.; Fisher‐Hoch, Susan P.; Mitchell, R. L.; Muers, Martin F.

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(80)90005-7

Cited by 218 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Since the identification of L. pneumophila as a causative organism of human respiratory illness (McDade et al 1977) numerous epidemics and sporadic outbreaks of legionellosis have been recognized (Thacker et al 1978;Broome et al 1979;Politi et al 1979;Dondero et al 1980;Tobin et al 1980;Fisher-Hoch et al 1981). Although L. pneumophila has been isolated from many natural water sources Fliermans et al 1981) it is the occurrence of the organism in domestic and recirculating cooling water systems that seems to be of unique importance in the epidemiology of the human disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival of virulentLegionella pneumophilain aerosols

Hambleton

Broster²,

Dennis

et al. 1983

J. Hyg.

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SUMMARYAqueous suspensions of virulent Legionella pneumophila grown on solid medium retained virulence and aerosol survival characteristics for several months. Significant numbers of viable organisms were recovered from aerosols held at various relative humidities (r.h.) for up to 2 h. The organisms survived best at 65% r.h. and were least stable at 55 % r.h.Exponential phase broth-grown organisms survived poorly in aerosols in comparison with stationary phase broth cultures or organisms grown on solid medium, suggesting that the metabolic status of Legionella pneumophila organisms may be an important factor affecting their ability to survive in aerosols and cause respiratory disease.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival of virulentLegionella pneumophilain aerosols

Hambleton

Broster²,

Dennis

et al. 1983

J. Hyg.

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“…The inoculated plates were incubated at 37°C in a moist atmosphere and examined daily for up to 10 days before discarding. Presumptive strains of legionella were tested for cysteine dependence before positive identification by immunofluorescence, using rabbit antisera, prepared against L. pneumophila serogroups [1][2][3][4][5][6] (supplied by the Division of Microbiological Reagents antd Quality Control, Colindale, London).…”

Section: Laboratory Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, there have been a number of reports implicating hospital hot-and cold-water systems with outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease [1][2][3] in addition to those associated with cooling towers [4,5]. For this reason, most hospitals follow Department of Health advice [6] which recommends circulating hot water should be delivered at the taps not below 50°C to reduce the risk of infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A field study of the survival ofLegionella pneumophilain a hospital hot–water system

Farrell¹,

Barker²,

Miles

et al. 1990

Epidemiol. Infect.

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SUMMARYThe colonization, survival and control of Legionella pneumophila in a hospital hot-water system was examined. The organism was consistently isolated from calorifier drain-water samples at temperatures of 50°C or below, despite previous chlorination of the system. When the temperature of one of two linked calorifiers was raised to 60°C, by closing off the cold-water feed, the legionella count decreased from c. 104 c.f.u./l to an undetectable level. However, 10 min after turning on the cold-water feed which produced a fall in calorifier temperature, the count in the calorifier drain water returned to its original level. Investigations revealed that the cold-water supply was continually feeding the calorifiers with L. pneumophila. Simple modifications in the design of the system were made so that the cold-water feed no longer exceeds 20°C; these measures have considerably reduced the number of L. pneumophila reaching the calorifiers.

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“…Thus, outbreaks are linked to aerosol producing devices like air conditioners [20], showers [46], spa pools [11] or cooling towers [2]. Once having entered the human lung, alveolar macrophages are infected by Legionella, using the same infection strategies as in protozoa [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Anti-Lipopolysaccharid (LPS) antibodies against Legionella with high species specificity

Kühn

Thiem

Steinert

et al. 2019

HAB

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Abstract. Legionella are Gram-negative bacteria that are ubiquitously present in natural and man-made water reservoirs. When humans inhale aerosolized water contaminated with Legionella, alveolar macrophages can be infected, which may lead to a lifethreatening pneumonia called Legionnaires' disease. Due to the universal distribution of Legionella in water and their potential threat to human health, the Legionella concentration in water for human use must be strictly monitored, which is difficult since the standard detection still relies on lengthy cultivation and analysis of bacterial morphology. In this study, an antibody against L. pneumophila has been generated from the naïve human HAL antibody libraries by phage-display for the first time. The panning was performed on whole bacterial cells in order to select antibodies that bind specifically to the cell surface of untreated Legionella. The bacterial cell wall component lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was identified as the target structure. Specific binding to the important pathogenic L. pneumophila strains Corby, Philadelphia-1 and Knoxville was observed, while no binding was detected to seven members of the families Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae or Clostridiaceae. Production of this antibody in the recombinant scFv-Fc format using either a murine or a human Fc part allowed the set-up of a sandwich-ELISA for detection of Legionella cells. The scFv-Fc construct proved to be very stable, even when stored for several weeks at elevated temperatures. A sensitivity limit of 4,000 cells was achieved. The scFv-Fc antibody pair was integrated on a biosensor, demonstrating the specific and fast detection of L. pneumophila on a portable device. With this system, 10,000 Legionella cells were detected within 35 min. Combined with a water filtration/concentration system, this antibody may be developed into a promising reagent for rapid on-site Legionella monitoring.

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Legionnaires' Disease in a Transplant Unit: Isolation of the Causative Agent From Shower Baths

Cited by 218 publications

References 9 publications

Survival of virulentLegionella pneumophilain aerosols

Survival of virulentLegionella pneumophilain aerosols

A field study of the survival ofLegionella pneumophilain a hospital hot–water system

Human Anti-Lipopolysaccharid (LPS) antibodies against Legionella with high species specificity

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