Frequency of Legionella Infection in Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
- Author:
Dae Dong LEE
1
;
Eun Ju SONG
;
Sun Min LEE
;
Eun Yup LEE
;
Yun Seong KIM
;
Min Ki LEE
;
Jeong Man KIM
;
Hae Kyung LEE
;
Chulhun L CHANG
Author Information
1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pusan National University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea. CCHL@pusan.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Legionella;
Community-acquired pneumonia;
Urine legionella antigen;
Serum legionella antibody
- MeSH:
Adult;
Busan;
Culture Media;
Diagnosis;
Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect;
Humans;
Immunoglobulin G;
Korea;
Legionella*;
Legionellosis;
Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques;
Pneumonia*;
Prevalence;
Sputum
- From:The Korean Journal of Laboratory Medicine
2005;25(6):416-420
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Legionella spp. cannot be cultivated in routine bacterial culture media, causing underdiagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to this microorganism. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of legionellosis in patients with CAP by using several diagnostic techniques. METHODS: Patients' sputum, serum and urine samples were collected from 38 patients with CAP in Pusan National University Hospital during November 2002 to May 2004. The laboratory procedures for diagnosis of legionellosis was performed by sputum cultures, urine antigen tests, nucleic acid amplification tests, and serologic indirect immunofluorescence antibody tests. RESULTS: Legionella pneumonia was diagnosed in 2 of the 38 patients (5.3%); one was L. pneumophila serogroup 1 positive in urine, and the other was serum IgG antibody positive for L. micdadei. CONCLUSIONS: Legionellosis may play an important role in adult CAP in Korea. The diagnosis of legionellosis may require various testing methods, such as sputum culture, urine antigen test, nucleic acid amplification test, and serologic antibody test.
