Zorana Djordjevic, Marko Folic, Ivana Petrovic, Sanja Zornic, Andjelka Stojkovic, Ana Miljanovic, Sladjana Randjelovic, Snezana Jovanovic, Milica Jovanovic, Slobodan Jankovic
{"title":"An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in newborns in Serbia.","authors":"Zorana Djordjevic, Marko Folic, Ivana Petrovic, Sanja Zornic, Andjelka Stojkovic, Ana Miljanovic, Sladjana Randjelovic, Snezana Jovanovic, Milica Jovanovic, Slobodan Jankovic","doi":"10.1080/20469047.2022.2108672","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Legionnaires' disease is an atypical pneumonia caused by inhaling small droplets of water containing the bacterium Legionella spp. In newborns, it is a rare event, usually associated with water births and the use of air conditioning systems or air humidifiers. A nosocomial outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the maternity ward of a secondary-care hospital in Arandjelovac, Serbia is described.Two male newborns were found to be infected with <i>Legionnella pneumophila</i>. On Days 7 and 6 of life, respectively, they were transferred to a tertiary-care hospital with signs of severe pneumonia which was radiologically confirmed. <i>L. pneumophila</i> was detected in tracheal secretions from both infants by RT-PCR, and its antigens were also positive in urine samples. The source of infection in the secondary-care hospital was the internal hot water heating system, and the main contributory factor to the emergence of the infection was the low temperature of the hot water which did not kill the bacteria during the available exposure time.These two cases highlight the importance of being cautious about possible Legionnaires' disease in maternity wards with outdated or irregularly maintained internal water supply systems. The adoption of official guidelines for the control and regular maintenance of water supply systems, including the multidisciplinary cooperation of all relevant parties, forms the basis for direct monitoring for Legionella and the prevention of new outbreaks.<b>Abbreviations:</b> BCYE: buffered charcoal yeast extract agar; GVPC: glycine vancomycin polymyxin cycloheximide agar; LD - Legionnaires' disease; TR-PCR: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.</p>","PeriodicalId":19731,"journal":{"name":"Paediatrics and International Child Health","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Paediatrics and International Child Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20469047.2022.2108672","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/8/9 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PEDIATRICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Legionnaires' disease is an atypical pneumonia caused by inhaling small droplets of water containing the bacterium Legionella spp. In newborns, it is a rare event, usually associated with water births and the use of air conditioning systems or air humidifiers. A nosocomial outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the maternity ward of a secondary-care hospital in Arandjelovac, Serbia is described.Two male newborns were found to be infected with Legionnella pneumophila. On Days 7 and 6 of life, respectively, they were transferred to a tertiary-care hospital with signs of severe pneumonia which was radiologically confirmed. L. pneumophila was detected in tracheal secretions from both infants by RT-PCR, and its antigens were also positive in urine samples. The source of infection in the secondary-care hospital was the internal hot water heating system, and the main contributory factor to the emergence of the infection was the low temperature of the hot water which did not kill the bacteria during the available exposure time.These two cases highlight the importance of being cautious about possible Legionnaires' disease in maternity wards with outdated or irregularly maintained internal water supply systems. The adoption of official guidelines for the control and regular maintenance of water supply systems, including the multidisciplinary cooperation of all relevant parties, forms the basis for direct monitoring for Legionella and the prevention of new outbreaks.Abbreviations: BCYE: buffered charcoal yeast extract agar; GVPC: glycine vancomycin polymyxin cycloheximide agar; LD - Legionnaires' disease; TR-PCR: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
期刊介绍:
Paediatrics and International Child Health is an international forum for all aspects of paediatrics and child health in developing and low-income countries. The international, peer-reviewed papers cover a wide range of diseases in childhood and examine the social and cultural settings in which they occur. Although the main aim is to enable authors in developing and low-income countries to publish internationally, it also accepts relevant papers from industrialised countries. The journal is a key publication for all with an interest in paediatric health in low-resource settings.