Keywords
L. pneumophila
serogroups
bacteriological culture
sanitary water
How to Cite
Abstract
Legionella is the bacterium that causes legionellosis and constitutes a notable public health problem. The objective of this study is to establish the distribution and frequency of the different species and serogroups of Legionella obtained from the samples analyzed at the L’Hospitalet Public Health Laboratory during the period 2002-2019. 3 935 water samples from facilities with a probability of proliferation and spread of Legionella were analyzed using the ISO 11731:1998 method. Number and percentage of Legionella spp., L. pneumophila serogroup Sg 1 and L. pneumophila Sg 2-14 were determined by facility type and year. The results indicate that the facilities with the highest presence of Legionella are those that include sanitary hot water systems (ACS, 36.4 %). Sanitary cold-water systems (AFS) must also be considered favorable places for the growth of Legionella (17 %), along with sprinkler irrigation systems (13.5 %). Of all the positive samples found in the facilities (21.5 %), L. pneumophila is the most isolated in cultures (70.5 %) and the most frequently found serogroup is 2-14 (34.2 %), followed by Sg 1 (26.4 %). This is innovative, since most published studies cite Sg 1 as the most frequent in environmental samples. These aspects would support the need to broaden the diagnostic spectrum of the disease in patients, since most hospitals use urine antigen, whose main limitation is that it only detects L. pneumophila Sg 1.
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