Persistence of the same strain of Legionella pneumophila in the water system of an Italian hospital for 15 years.
In 2004, an outbreak of legionnaires disease occurred in a hospital in northern Italy with a water system that had been disinfected multiple times since 1990 and equipped with a continuous disinfecting system. Molecular typing linked the outbreak to contamination of the hospital water system and demonstrated the persistence of a predominant strain of Legionella pneumophila for 15 years.
Scaturro
M
M
Department of Infectious, Parasitic, and Immune-mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161-Rome, Italy. maria.scaturro@iss.it
Dell'eva
I
I
Helfer
F
F
Ricci
M L
ML
D003428:Cross Infection / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000145:classification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008284:Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D014881:Water Supply