Facts About Legionella
| Assumed Legionella count in bulk water for a spa related to outbreaks is 1,000 to 3,600 CFU/ml Eurosurveillance Weekley May 20, 2004, 8(21) |
| UK fines hospital for legionella wrongful death |
| UK hospital blamed for man's death |
| NYC Judge modifies cruise ship legionella jury verdict |
| Hotel breached duty of care by failing to follow internal legionella treatment procedures 26Jul06 |
| Property owners have been sued for the spread of Legionella, resulting in expensive settlements. |
| Legionnaires action against firm |
| Legionnaires' Trial Articles United Kingdom 2006 |
| Heterotrophic bacterial CFU are often inversely proportional to numbers of Legionella in cooling tower samples, in our experience. |
| Routine biocide treatments will not eradicate Legionella bacteria in the environment, only in laboratory studies. |
| The superheat and flush method is not an effective method to eradicate legionella from water distribution systems (Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica113:45-53, 2005). |
| Culture methods are good during outbreaks for biotyping; but culture methods lack sensitivity for routine, quantitative monitoring. Many factors will inhibit growth or identification of legionella on BCYE with or without antimicrobial agents, heat or acid treatment. |
| Culture methods will not identify non-culturable legionella that can still cause outbreaks (non-culturable, viable legionella have been reported in several peer-reviewed journals, including Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica 113:45-53, 2005. The American Academy of Microbiology recommends new approaches for analyzing uncultivated microorganisms. Only DFA tests performed by trained laboratory personnel can identify these legionella. |
| Direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) tests using a battery of monoclonal antibodies provide more useful routine monitoring information than culture methods. |
| Legionnaires' Disease typically causes a serious pneumonia that requires prompt medical attention. |
| There are 8,000 to 18,000 cases of Legionnaires' Disease every year in the United States. |
| Prudent practice involves removal of Legionella bacteria that cause this disease from aerosol generating equipment when the bacteria multiply to high numbers. |
| Legionella species of bacteria cause Legionnaires' Disease. They are gram negative (but stain poorly), strictly aerobic rods. |
| Legionella infect people when they inhale aerosols (small particles that do not settle out of the air) containing these bacteria. Legionella dispersion can extend over a distance of at least 6 kilometers (Journal of Infectious Diseases 193:102-11, 2006) |
| Legionella are naturally found at the air-water interface in surface water, in ground water (Appl Environ Microbiol 71:663, Feb 2005), and in aerated biofilms. |
| Very low numbers of Legionella enter buildings in the water supply. |
| Legionella may multiply to high numbers in cooling towers, evaporative condensers, air washers, humidifiers, hot water heaters, spas, fountains, and plumbing fixtures. |
| Within one month, Legionella can multiply, in warm water-containing systems, from less than 10 per milliliter to over 1,000 per milliliter of water. |
| The highest number of Legionella that we have found in a water sample is 150,000 per milliliter of water. |
| Only 7% of the tower samples tested by our laboratory have Legionella counts greater than 200 per milliliter. |
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommend routine maintenance of water-containing equipment. GTS recommends monthly testing for Legionella as part of a routine maintenance program. |
| There are no federal or state certification programs for laboratories that perform Legionella testing of environmental samples. Therefore, care must be taken when selecting a testing laboratory. |
| Once high numbers of Legionella have been found, a relatively simple procedure for disinfecting water systems with chlorine and detergent is available. This procedure is not part of a routine maintenance program because equipment may become corroded. |
| Regular monitoring with a battery of DFA monoclonal antibodies for several serogroups and species of Legionella morphologically intact bacteria provides a means for exercising 'reasonable care' to deter potential litigation. |
QUALIFICATIONS
GTS is a Member of the Association of Water Technologies (AWT) and the lab director, Richard W. Gilpin, Ph.D., is certified as a Specialist Microbiologist in Biological Safety Microbiology by the National Registry of Microbiologists, American College of Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology and a Certified Biosafety Professional by the American Biological Safety Association.
GTS Legionella Laboratory
P.O. Box 7555
413-B East Diamond Ave.
Gaithersburg MD 20898
(888) 948-4811 (Toll Free)
(301) 948-4121 (Phone)
(301) 948-6972 (Fax)