A pseudoepidemic of Legionella infections.
During a six-month period, we observed an increase in the incidence of presumed Legionnaires' disease (LD) due to false-positive direct immunofluorescent antibody (DFA) staining. Contamination of the DFA staining reagents with Legionella appeared to account for our pseudoepidemic. Although a positive DFA stain has been regarded as highly specific for the diagnosis of LD, the clinician must interpret such results with caution.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004340:Drug Contamination; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D007875:Legionella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D014871:Water Microbiology
D007202:Indicators and Reagents