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Legionnaires' disease in South Australia, 1979–1988
Author(s) -
Steele Trevor W.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1989.tb128470.x
Subject(s) - legionella pneumophila , legionnaires' disease , legionella , outbreak , serology , microbiology and biotechnology , pneumonia , medicine , virology , biology , immunology , bacteria , antibody , genetics
Laboratory investigations supported the diagnosis of legionella pneumonia in 108 patients in South Australia over the past 10 years. Legionella pneumophila was responsible for 91 infections: the serogroup‐1 strain caused 81 of these. L. pneumophila serogroup 2 was the only other strain of L. pneumophila that was isolated from patients; it caused infection in eight patients. In two patients, the serological results did not distinguish between infection with L. pneumophila serogroup 1 and serogroup 2. Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1 accounted for the remaining 17 infections. Serological tests were used to make the diagnoses in 77 cases. Legionella spp. were isolated from 24 patients and were identified in the respiratory‐tract secretions of a further seven cases by direct immunofluorescence microscopy. L. longbeachae serogroup 1 first was isolated from a patient with pneumonia in South Australia in May, 1987. Since then it has been isolated from specimens from six other patients. No evidence exists for a common‐source outbreak of L. longbeachae but an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that was caused by L. pneumophila serogroup 1 occurred in South Australia in 1986.