title: Epidemiological investigation of a case of nosocomial Legionnaires' disease in Taiwan: implications for routine environmental surveillance.
abstract: An epidemiological investigation with Legionella and molecular subtyping was conducted to determine the source of a case of nosocomial Legionnaires' disease (LD) who was hospitalized in three hospitals within a month. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 3, an uncommon serogroup for infection, was isolated from the patient's sputum. Environmental surveillance revealed Legionella colonization in all three hospitals; the patient isolate matched the isolate from the first hospital by molecular typing. Culturing the hospital water supply for Legionella is a pro-active strategy for detection of nosocomial LD even in hospitals experiencing no previous cases.
authors.affiliation: Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hsueh
authors.forename: H-H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: H-Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: T-M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R-J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ben
authors.forename: S-T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: C-M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: Y E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L-R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: C-S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology