Epidemiological investigation of a case of nosocomial Legionnaires' disease in Taiwan: implications for routine environmental surveillance.
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.
Chien
S T
ST
Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Hsueh
J C
JC
Lin
H-H
HH
Shih
H-Y
HY
Lee
T-M
TM
Ben
R-J
RJ
Chou
S-T
ST
Fong
C-M
CM
Lin
Y E
YE
Tseng
L-R
LR
Chiang
C-S
CS
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