Legionella Contamination of Domestic Hot Water in a Tertiary Level Hospital and Resulting Introduction of Control Measure

Mona Schousboe; Alan Bavis; Ros Podmore

doi:10.1128/9781555815660.ch115

Chapter 115 : Legionella Contamination of Domestic Hot Water in a Tertiary Level Hospital and Resulting Introduction of Control Measure

Authors: Mona Schousboe¹, Alan Bavis², Ros Podmore³

VIEW AFFILIATIONS HIDE AFFILIATIONS

Affiliations: 1: Canterbury Health Laboratories, P O Box 151, Christchurch, New Zealand; 2: Maintenance and Engineering Department, Christ-church Hospital, P O Box 151, Christchurch, New Zealand; 3: Canterbury Health Laboratories, P O Box 151, Christchurch, New Zealand

Content Type: Monograph

Publication Year: 2006

Category: Bacterial Pathogenesis

Book DOI: 10.1128/9781555815660

Chapter DOI: 10.1128/9781555815660.ch115

MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.

Preview this chapter:

Legionella Contamination of Domestic Hot Water in a Tertiary Level Hospital and Resulting Introduction of Control Measure, Page 1 of 2

< Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555815660/9781555813901_Chap115-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555815660/9781555813901_Chap115-2.gif

Abstract:

This chapter analyzes variables in the rebuilding program resulting in Legionella in the domestic hot water system (DHWS), legionella monitoring of water and air-conditioning systems, and systems implemented to control contamination. Standard methods for Legionella culture of environmental samples and identification of isolates were followed for both water samples and swabs from showerheads. The Infection Control Committee advised the clinical staff to test patients with possible nosocomial pneumonia for Legionella pneumophila sg 1 infection by urine antigen tests. Environmental culture found many sites positive for L. pneumophila sg 1 including feed water to the calorifiers and a sample taken just after tempering of the water exiting the calorifier. The peripheral contamination with L. pneumophila sg 1 was discovered within months, but when a patient was recognized as possibly being infected, extensive changes to the DHWS were carried out. A UV irradiation plant was installed near the exit of the cold water tanks to reduce further colonization.

Citation: Schousboe M, Bavis A, Podmore R. 2006. Legionella Contamination of Domestic Hot Water in a Tertiary Level Hospital and Resulting Introduction of Control Measure, p 477-482. In Cianciotto N, Kwaik Y, Edelstein P, Fields B, Geary D, Harrison T, Joseph C, Ratcliff R, Stout J, Swanson M (ed), Legionella. ASM Press, Washington, DC. doi: 10.1128/9781555815660.ch115

Highlighted Text: Show | Hide

Full text loading...

Figures

Legionella Contamination of Domestic Hot Water in a Tertiary Level Hospital and Resulting Introduction of Control Measure

[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-1,webId=/content/author/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-1,properties={foaf_givenname=Mona, foaf_name=Mona Schousboe, foaf_surname=Schousboe, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-aff1]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-2,webId=/content/author/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-2,properties={foaf_givenname=Alan, foaf_name=Alan Bavis, foaf_surname=Bavis, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-aff2]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-3,webId=/content/author/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-3,properties={foaf_givenname=Ros, foaf_name=Ros Podmore, foaf_surname=Podmore, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115-aff3]]}]]

/content/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115.ch115fig01

FIGURE 1

Christchurch hospital domestic hot water sampling points schematic.

10.1128/9781555815660/f0478-01_thmb.gif

10.1128/9781555815660/f0478-01.gif

FIGURE 1

Christchurch hospital domestic hot water sampling points schematic.

References

/content/book/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115

1. Atlas, R. M. 1999. Legionella: from environmental habitats to disease pathology, detection and control. Environ. Microbiol. 1: 283– 293.

2. Building Industry Authority. 1992. The New Zealand Building Code Water Supplies Clause G12, 2nd ed.

3. 1992. Culture of hospital water for members of the family: Legionellaceae. Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook, Vol. 2: 11. 3.

4. Darelid, J.,, S. Lofgren, and, B. E. Malmvall. 2002. Control of nosocomial Legionnaires’ disease by keeping the circulating hot water above temperature degrees C: experience from a 10-year surveillance programme in a district general hospital. J. Hosp. Infect. 30: 213– 219.

5. Everts, R. J,, D. R. Murdoch,, S. T. Chambers,, G. I. Town,, S. G. Withington,, I. R. Martin,, M. J. Epton,, C. Frampton,, A. Y. Chereshsky, and, M. I. Schous-boe. 2000. Nosocomial pneumonia in adult medical and surgical patients at Christ-church Hospital. N. Z. Med. J. 113: 221– 224.

6. Goetz, A. M.,, J. E. Stout,, S. L. Jacobs,, M. A. Fisher,, R. E. Ponzer,, S. Drenning, and, V. L. Yu. 1998. Nosocomial Legionnaires’ disease discovered in community hospitals following cultures of the water system: seek and ye shall find. Am. J. Infect. Control. 26: 8– 11.

7. Isenberg, H. D. 1992. Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook. American Society for Microbiology, Washington D. C.

8. O’Neill, E. and,, H. Humphreys. 2005. Surveillance of hospital water and primary prevention of nosocomial legionellosis: what is the evidence? J. Hosp. Infect. 59: 273– 279.

9. Sabria, M., and, V. L. Yu. 2002. Hospital-acquired Legionellosis: solution for a preventable infection. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2: 368– 373.

10. Thomas, V.,, T. Bouchez,, V. Nicolas,, S. Robert,, J. F. Loret, and, Y. Lévi. 2004. Amoebae in domestic water systems: resistance to disinfections and implication in Legionella persistence. J. Appl. Microbiol. 97: 950– 963.

Tables

Legionella Contamination of Domestic Hot Water in a Tertiary Level Hospital and Resulting Introduction of Control Measure

/content/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115.ch115tab01

TABLE 1

Number of cultures positive for L. pneumophila sg 1

TABLE 1

Number of cultures positive for L. pneumophila sg 1

Press Catalog

View Latest ASM Press Catalog

Tools

Add to My Favorites
You must be logged in to use this functionality

Export citations
- BibT_EX
- Endnote
- Zotero
- Plain Text
- RefWorks
- Mendeley
Recommend to Library

These fields are mandatory:
*

Librarian details Name: *

Email: *

Your details Name: *

Email: *

Department: *

Why are you recommending this title?

Select reason:
I need to refer to this publication frequently

This publication is an essential resource for my studies/research

I'll refer my students to this publication

I'm an author/editor/contributor to this publication

I'm a member of the publication's editorial board

Other:

Legionella" />
eventtype:PERSONALISATION;jsessionid:wtJ5giReqswZG_8PZTz0qXit.asmlive-10-241-2-96;itemid:http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/book/10.1128/9781555815660.ch115;timestamp:1619163290702

Invalid site public key

Invalid site private key

Invalid request cookie

Incorrect. Try again.

Unabled to verify parameters

Could not contact recaptcha for validation

I am not a robot *

916345916

Legionella — Recommend this title to your library

Thank you
Your recommendation has been sent to your librarian.
Request Permissions

Access Key

Free content
Open access content
Subscribed content