Environmental Monitoring of Legionella in Hospitals in the Campania Region: A 5-Year Study

Annalisa Lombardi, Tonia Borriello, Elvira De Rosa, Fabiana Di Duca, Michele Sorrentino, Ida Torre, Paolo Montuori, Ugo Trama and Francesca Pennino ()
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Annalisa Lombardi: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Tonia Borriello: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Elvira De Rosa: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Fabiana Di Duca: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Michele Sorrentino: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Ida Torre: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Paolo Montuori: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Ugo Trama: General Directorate of Health, Campania Region, Centro Direzionale C3, 80143 Naples, Italy
Francesca Pennino: Department of Public Health, University “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini N° 5, 80131 Naples, Italy

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Legionella is a pathogen that colonizes soils, freshwater, and building water systems. People who are most affected are those with immunodeficiencies, so it is necessary to monitor its presence in hospitals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of Legionella in water samples collected from hospitals in the Campania region, Southern Italy. A total of 3365 water samples were collected from January 2018 to December 2022 twice a year in hospital wards from taps and showers, tank bottoms, and air-treatment units. Microbiological analysis was conducted in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 11731:2017, and the correlations between the presence of Legionella and water temperature and residual chlorine were investigated. In total, 708 samples (21.0%) tested positive. The most represented species was L. pneumophila 2–14 (70.9%). The serogroups isolated were 1 (27.7%), 6 (24.5%), 8 (23.3%), 3 (18.9%), 5 (3.1%), and 10 (1.1%). Non- pneumophila Legionella spp. represented 1.4% of the total. Regarding temperature, the majority of Legionella positive samples were found in the temperature range of 26.0–40.9 °C. An influence of residual chlorine on the presence of the bacterium was observed, confirming that chlorine disinfection is effective for controlling contamination. The positivity for serogroups other than serogroup 1 suggested the need to continue environmental monitoring of Legionella and to focus on the clinical diagnosis of other serogroups.

Keywords: Legionella; environmental monitoring; Campania region; hospital; residual chlorine; temperature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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