Search

Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is an opportunistic waterborne pathogen which can be transmitted to humans. Transmission to humans mainly happens through the inhalation of contaminated aerosols which can cause Legionellosis and public health concerns. The present cross-sectional study provides the first L. pneumophila contamination assessment in Jordan, aimed at estimating the presence as well as the extension of L. pneumophila contamination levels using a culturing method. In which, 183 samples of drinking water were collected from four hospitals and five hotels in Jordan. Statistical comparative assessment between the two sectors, tourism and healthcare, was conducted. L. pneumophila was detected in 64% of the collected water samples, of which the greatest level detected reached 1.26 × 105 colony forming units per liter (cfu/L). The contamination rate and concentration of L. pneumophila among the hotels sampled were significantly higher than the samples taken from the hospitals sector, 85% and 50%, respectively. The mean of colony-forming units among the samples that tested positive from hotels was 9.0 × 10³ cfu/L where in hospitals – 6.5 × 10³ cfu/L. Fifty-one percent of samples that tested positive also exceeded 1,000 cfu/L, the level conducive to infection. The seasonal effect on contamination level and frequency were found to be the strongest during spring, followed by autumn, 76% and 73%, respectively. The findings of the present study provided significant data to the water safety stakeholders, and confirmed the need to undertake microbiological surveillance of water systems in hospitals and hotels on regular basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Detection and enumeration of Legionella in water samples is of great importance for risk assessment analysis. The plate culture method is the gold standard, but has received several well-known criticisms, which have induced researchers to develop alternative methods. The purpose of this study was to compare Legionella counts obtained by the analysis of potable water samples through the plate culture method and through the IDEXX liquid culture Legiolert method. Legionella plate culture, according to ISO 11731:1998, was performed using 1 L of water. Legiolert was performed using both the 10 mL and 100 mL Legiolert protocols. Overall, 123 potable water samples were analyzed. Thirty-seven (30%) of them, positive for L. pneumophila, serogroups 1 or 2–14 by plate culture, were used for comparison with the Legiolert results. The Legiolert 10 mL test detected 34 positive samples (27.6%) and the Legiolert 100 mL test detected 37 positive samples, 27.6% and 30% respectively, out of the total samples analyzed. No significant difference was found between either the Legiolert 10 mL and Legiolert 100 mL vs. the plate culture (p = 0.9 and p = 0.3, respectively) or between the Legiolert 10 mL and Legiolert 100 mL tests (p = 0.83). This study confirms the reliability of the IDEXX Legiolert test for Legionella pneumophila detection and enumeration, as already shown in similar studies. Like the plate culture method, the Legiolert assay is also suitable for obtaining isolates for typing purposes, relevant for epidemiological investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]