Environmental Surveillance of Legionellosis within an Italian University Hospital—Results of 15 Years of Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Roberta Palermo¹  Alessio Facciolಠ Pasqualina Laganà³  Santi Delia³ 

[1] Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy;Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy;Regional Reference Laboratory of Clinical and Environmental Surveillance of Legionellosis, Branch of Messina, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Torre Biologica 3p, AOU ‘G. Martino, Via C. Valeria, s.n.c., 98125 Messina, Italy;

关键词: Legionella;    legionellosis;    environmental surveillance;    water system;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph16071103

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Legionnaires’ disease is normally acquired by inhalation of legionellae from a contaminated environmental source. Water systems of large and old buildings, such as hospitals, can be contaminated with legionellae and therefore represent a potential risk for the hospital population. In this study, we demonstrated the constant presence of Legionella in water samples from the water system of a large university hospital in Messina (Sicily, Italy) consisting of 11 separate pavilions during a period of 15 years (2004–2018). In total, 1346 hot water samples were collected between January 2004 and December 2018. During this period, to recover Legionella spp. from water samples, the standard procedures reported by the 2000 Italian Guidelines were adopted; from May 2015 to 2018 Italian Guidelines revised in 2015 (ISS, 2015) were used. Most water samples (72%) were positive to L. pneumophila serogroups 2–14, whereas L. pneumophila serogroup 1 accounted for 18% and non-Legionella pneumophila spp. Accounted for 15%. Most of the positive samples were found in the buildings where the following critical wards are situated: (Intensive Care Unit) ICU, Neurosurgery, Surgeries, Pneumology, and Neonatal Intensive Unit Care. This study highlights the importance of the continuous monitoring of hospital water samples to prevent the potential risk of nosocomial legionellosis.

【 授权许可】

Unknown