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Prevalence of Positive Antibody Titers against Legionellae in Two Residential Populations with Different Legionella Contaminations in Their Hot Water Systems, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555817985/9781555812300_Chap65-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555817985/9781555812300_Chap65-2.gifAbstract:
In this chapter, the authors report on an epidemiological study on the immune responses of residents in homes with heavy and with minor Legionella contaminations in their hot water systems. In one of the two residential areas with a central hot water system, Legionella contamination of up to 1 million CFU/liter had been known for several years. In the other residential area, decentralized hot water systems were installed in all houses so that no Legionella problem would be assumed. Using the criterion of antibody titer of 1:128 (immunofluorescence), 1.9% of the exposed and 1.1% of the control persons exhibited positive antibody titers against L. pneumophila serogroups 1 to 14, and 7.5% of the exposed and 6.5% of the control persons had positive antibody titers against Legionella species in total. In Eberswalde, a small city near Berlin, the prevalences of positive antibody titers in 246 healthy inhabitants were 10.2% in the exposed group and 13.4% in the control group. In the authors' investigation the participants exposed to heavy Legionella contamination in their hot water systems at home had higher antibody titers against Legionella than participants living in the control area.