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The Influence of Contamination of a Hospital Hot-water System with Legionella pneumophila on Serum Antibody Production by Staff Members

Daniel Rabczenko

Hanna Stypukowska-Misiurewicz

National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, Poland

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of Legionella pneumophila colonisation of water systems on people working in hospitals. It was undertaken as a part of risk assessment of L. pneumophila infection in hospitals. The study was based on the serological response of healthy hospital staff members to contamination of the hot-water system with L. pneumophila through comparison with the prevalence of antibodies against Legionella in blood donors’ sera. It was found that the effect of long exposure of healthy hospital staff members to Legionella was to induce a response in their immune system. Seroepidemiology should be recognised as one of the methods for evaluating the prevalence of L. pneumophila and other Legionella in our water environment.

Key Words: Legionella • Sero-epidemiology • Risk assessment • Hospital environment

References

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Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 15, No. 1, 105-109 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X06062373


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Pancer, K. Articles by Stypukowska-Misiurewicz, H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?