Professional paper

Legionella pneumophila infections in Primorsko-goranska county

Brigita Tićac ; Department of microbiology, Department of public health Primorsko goranska county, Rijeka, Croatia
Igor Žižić ; Department of microbiology and parasitology, School of medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Palmira Kesovija ; Mikrobiološki odjel, Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Maja Farkaš ; Mikrobiološki odjel, Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Đana Pahor ; Epidemiološki odjel, Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Tomislav Rukavina ; Mikrobiološki odjel, Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska

Abstract

Aim: Bacteria of the genus Legionella are important causes of both community-acquired and nosocomial pneumonia. However, the majority of cases are clinically indistinguishable from other causes of pneumonia and it cannot be reliably diagnosed on clinical grounds alone. The etiological diagnosis depends mostly on culture, antigen detection, serological or molecular tests.
Methods: Present paper represents the results of retrospective analysis of tests performed at the Department of Microbiology the Teaching Institute of Public Health in Rijeka between 2003 to 2008. In our laboratories most of the cases were diagnosed by the detection
of Legionella antigen in urine and/or serological determination with enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test of the anti-Legionella IgM fraction as the most recent answer to infection.
Results: Overall 97 urine samples and 112 sera of patients from Primorsko-Goranska County were analysed. L. pneumophila O1 antigen in urine was detected in 5 (5 %) of 97 samples. Serologically
EIA detected IgM in overall 13 (12 %) of all samples tested. IgM only was found in 4 (21 %) samples, IgM plus IgA and IgG in 5 (26 %), IgM plus IgA in 3 (16 %), IgM plus IgG in 1 (5 %), and IgG alone was found in 6 (32 %) of 19 positive samples. Overall, from 2003 to 2008 L. pneumophila positive results were found in samples from 8 patients.
Discussion and Conclusions: Detection of IgM using a sensitive technique such as EIA seems to be a suitable complement to antigenuria detection for the diagnosis of legionellosis. EIA for the detection of L. pneumophila serogroup O1 antigen in urine specimens is a specific assay which is of great importance in providing a rapid diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease.

Keywords

anti-Legionella antibodies; diagnosis; Legionella O1 antigen; Legionella pneumophila

Hrčak ID:

34710

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/34710

Publication date:

2.3.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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