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Legionella
is an aquatic bacterium that can live in almost any type of water
system. Itcancausetwodifferent typesofdiseases:1.Abenignform,ascompared
to influenza, whose symptoms disappear after 2 to 5 days without the need of
treatment (in this case, it usually goes undiagnosed); 2. A very severe form
but quite common inmore vulnerable persons (elderly, immunocompromised
etc.) which leads to a pulmonary infection that can be fatal in more than 15%
of the cases.
Legionella
has water as habitat, and being so, the main sources in which it
lives are the natural water reservoirs, either surfacewater (rivers, dams and even
wet soil, but it is rarer in sea water) or groundwater. It has a natural tendency,
due to its ecology, to proliferate in warm temperatures, between 25 and 46 oC.
Other aspects of importance are the presence in biofilms, corrosion and scale
and, mainly, in dead parts of water systems that hold stagnant water.
The infection is transmitted through the inhale of tiny particles of water
containing the bacterium. The disease is not transmitted from one person to
another.Therefore, there is always a determined source of contaminationwhich
entails liability for the damages to whoever is responsible for the proliferation
and so, the awareness and the technical support of competent professionals
are essential to the proper management of the risks and to avoid negligence
towards the issue.
The history of the fight against
Legionella
has always been quite
linked to the hospitality industry. One has only to remember that the first
outbreak documented, which occurred in 1976, was staged at the Bellevue
Strafford Hotel in Philadelphia. Ten years later, in 1986, it was started an
international collaboration of surveillance in Europe with the formation
of the European Working Group for
Legionella
Infections and one year
later, it was implemented the European Surveillance Scheme for Travel
