Schoonmaker-Bopp D, Nazarian E, Dziewulski D, Clement E, Baker DJ, Dickinson MC, Saylors A, Codru N, Thompson L, Lapierre P, Dumas N, Limberger R, Musser KA.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2021 Jun 4:AEM0058021. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00580-21. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34085864.
Highlights
- Testing and investigation methods used in New York State (NYS) over the past 40 years have changed and improved over time and lessons learned from investigations.
- Advanced testing and prioritising investigational approaches have led to a high level of success for both solved outbreaks and culture isolation of clinical isolates.
- Linking clinical and environmental isolates has positively impacted Legionella
- The importance of environmental, epidemiological and laboratory collaboration problem is critical to successful efforts for legionellosis investigations in NYS.
- In 2018, there were nearly 10,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease (LD) reported in the United States with actual incidence believed to be much higher.
- Approximately 10% of patients with LD will die and up to 90% of patients diagnosed will be hospitalised.
- As Legionella are spread predominantly through engineered building water systems, identifying sources of outbreaks by assessing environmental sources is key to preventing further cases LD.