The Adequacy of Current Legionnaires’ Disease Diagnostic Practices in Capturing the Epidemiology of Clinically Relevant Legionella: A Scoping Review

Published on 12/11/2024 | by Waterline Admin

Ha R, Heilmann A, Lother SA, Turenne C, Alexander D, Keynan Y, Rueda ZV. Pathogens. 2024 Oct 1;13(10):857

Highlights:

• Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (LpSG1) is thought to be the most common pathogenic subgroup, based the use of a urinary antigen test (UAT), which only detects LpSG1.
• A scoping review was undertaken to answer the following questions: (1) “Does nucleic acid testing (NAT) increase the detection of non-pneumophila serogroup 1 Legionella compared to non-NAT?”; and (2) “Does being immunocompromised increase the frequency of pneumonia caused by non-pneumophila serogroup 1 Legionella compared to non-immunocompromised individuals with Legionnaires’ disease (LD)?”
• Of 3449 articles obtained, 31 were included in this review.
• The most common species were L. pneumophila, L. longbeachae, and unidentified Legionella species appearing in 1.4%, 0.9%, and 0.6% of pneumonia cases.
• Nearly 50% of cases were caused by unspecified species or serogroups not detected by the standard UAT.
• NAT-based techniques were more likely to detect Legionella than non-NAT-based techniques.
• The identification and detection of Legionella and serogroups other than serogroup 1 is hampered by a lack of application of broader pan-Legionella or pan-serogroup diagnostics.

LINK TO PAPER – CLICK HERE

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