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Legionella: epidemiology and human infection, environment and diagnosis

Published on April 30, 2017   27 min

A selection of talks on Clinical Practice

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This talk is entitled Legionella: Epidemiology and Human Infection, Environment and Diagnosis by Diane Lindsay.
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The first documented strain of the yet-to-be-named genus Legionella was identified in 1943, linked to an outbreak of pneumonia. At that time, it was classed as a rickettsia-like organism and given the unusual name Tatlockia. It was never cultured on conventional media but grew in the blood of guinea pigs and hen embryonated yolk-sac and was viewed microscopically as a Gram-negative coccobacillus. In 1976, there was a large outbreak of a pneumonic illness linked to the Stratford Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. At that time, there was a convention of American legionnaires staying at the hotel, and the uncultivable bacteria was called Legionella, and the new pneumonic illness was named Legionnaires' disease in honor of the hundreds of people affected. However, it was not until 1977 that a culture medium-buffered charcoal yeast extract or BCYE for short was devised that allowed the growth of these microorganisms. Currently, there are over 50 species that have been identified and Legionella continues to cause outbreaks worldwide by the inhalation or aspiration of a contaminated water source. In the Philadelphia outbreak, the Legionella bacteria was traced to the air conditioning system in the hotel.

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Legionella: epidemiology and human infection, environment and diagnosis

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