Comparison of Legionella longbeachae and Legionella pneumophila cases in Scotland; implications for diagnosis, treatment and public health response.

Comparison of Legionella longbeachae and Legionella pneumophila cases in Scotland; implications for diagnosis, treatment and public health response. J Med Microbiol. 2015 Dec 23; Authors: Cameron RL, Pollock KG, Lindsay DS, Anderson E Abstract The reported incidence of Legionnaires' disease caused by Legionella longbeachae has increased since 2008 in Scotland. While microbiological and epidemiological studies have identified exposure to growing media as a risk factor for infection, little is known about the differences regarding disease risk factors, clinical features and outcomes of infection with L. longbeachae when compared with L. pneumophila. A nested case-case study was performed comparing 12 L. longbeachae cases with 25 confirmed L. pneumophila cases. Fewer L. longbeachae infected patients reported being smokers (27 % [95 % CI 2 %-52 %] vs. 68 % [95 % CI 50 %-86 %], p=0.034) but more L. longbeachae patients experienced breathlessness (67 % [95 % CI 40 %-94 %] vs. 28 % [95 % CI 10 %-46 %]), p=0.036). Significantly more L. longbeachae infected patients received treatment in intensive care (50 % [95 % CI 22 %-78 %] vs. 12 % [95 % CI 0 %-25 %], p=0.036). However, the differences in diagnostic methods between the two groups may have led to only the most severe cases of L. longbeachae being captured by the surveillance system. No differences were observed in any of the other pre-hospital symptoms assessed. Our results highlight the ...
Source: Journal of Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: J Med Microbiol Source Type: research