Clinical Significance of (non-Legionella pneumophila) Legionella Species
Diane S.J. Lindsay
from: Legionellosis Diagnosis and Control in the Genomic Era (Edited by: Jacob Moran-Gilad and Rachel E. Gibbs). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2020) Pages: 211-248.
Abstract
Despite most human cases of clinical legionellosis being caused by Legionella pneumophila, there are many non-L. pneumophila species of the family, Legionellaceae, which have clinical, environmental and public health relevance. This chapter explores the history, notable features and geographical distribution of the most common non-L. pneumophila species of the Legionella genus with emphasis on L. longbeachae, L. bozemanae, L. micdadei, L. dumoffii and L. anisa. The Legionella species and L. pneumophila can be indistinguishable in terms of the clinical features of the disease that they cause and the respective treatments they require. However, infections caused by Legionella species predominate in the immunosuppressed and these infections can feature distinct clinical and radiologic findings such as an association with extra pulmonary sites of infection. Current diagnostic tools such as the urinary antigen test are biased towards detection of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 and increases the likelihood of cases caused by Legionella species being under or mis-diagnosed. Therefore, the true incidence of legionellosis cases caused by non-L. pneumophila species is probably under reported read more ...
