title: Isolation of Legionella anisa from multiple sites of a hospital water system: the eradication of Legionellacontamination.
abstract: For the prevention of nosocomial cases of legionellosis in the Ryukyu University Hospital neonatal wards, we examined nine shower units and a sink tap water unit for the presence of Legionella, over a 6-year period. We isolated Legionella-like organisms (LLO) from showerheads by culturing sediments from the water samples on buffered charcoal yeast extracts (BCYE). We used DNA-DNA hybridization to determine that the organisms were L. anisa. A fingerprinting technique called random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) also showed that all the organisms were identical at the genome level. Replacement of the shower heads harboring colonies of L. anisa prevented further contamination. Nosocomial cases of legionellosis have not been reported from the wards during the period of this survey. This is the first description of the isolation of L. anisa from multiple sites within a hospital, and RAPD analysis suggests that these may be the spread of a single clone.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. k008743@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Natsuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tateyama
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: Chikara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nakasone
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tohyama
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinzato
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Higa
authors.forename: Nobuchika
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kusano
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007875:Legionella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply