2002, Number 3
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Rev Biomed 2002; 13 (3)
Legionella spp. Absent in Costa Rican hospitals?
Rodríguez E, Gamboa MM, Arias ML
Language: Spanish
References: 24
Page: 165-169
PDF size: 27.00 Kb.
ABSTRACT
Introduction. Legionella spp. is widely distributed in natural humid habitats, as well as in drinking water tanks, cooling towers, air conditioning systems, and showers. Various species, predominantly
L. pneumophila, can originate an acute respiratory disease that can lead to fatal pneumonia, especially in immunocompromised patients or those with concomitant pulmonary disease. In Costa Rica, there are no reports of clinical cases, nor laboratory isolations that confirm the presence of this bacterium, so there is a lack of knowledge in this matter. In order to contribute to clarify this situation, we decided to investigate its presence in hospital environments.
Material and methods. 160 water samples coming from 56 air conditioning systems and 104 respirators from the four most important Costa Rican hospitals were analyzed. Samples were collected in sterile plastic bags and kept cold until their analysis at the laboratory. For isolation of
Legionella, the methodology recommended by CDC (Centers for Disease Control) was employed, using
L. pneumophila ATCC 33152 as control. Amoebae culture was also performed in order to evaluate the possible growth of
Legionella within them.
Results. No
Legionella strains were isolated from any of the 160 analyzed samples, even though the control strain was recovered from negative samples that had been inoculated; neither amoebae were isolated from any of the samples.
Conclusion. This study demonstrated that
Legionella is not present, or it is present at a very low concentration, at the Costa Rican hospital environment, correlating with the absence of reported clinical cases. Costa Rica would be one of the Latin American countries where its presence is not frequent.
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