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Nosocomial legionellosis in three heart-lung transplant patients: Case reports and environmental observations

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Abstract

Organ transplant recipients are at high risk of contracting Legionnaires' disease in a hospital environment contaminated with legionellae. This study describes the first cases of culture-verifiedLegionella infections with an established link to potable hospital water in Denmark; three patients operated on at the Cardiopulmonary Transplant Unit, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, became infected with legionellae. Environmental and clinical isolates ofLegionella pneumophila serogroups 1 and 6 were investigated by restriction enzyme analysis and ribotyping. An ice machine located in the kitchen of the intensive care unit was implicated as a source of infection in two of the three cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Statens Seruminstitut, Artillerivej 5, 2300, Copenhagen S, Denmark

    J. M. Bangsborg

  2. Mycoplasma Laboratory, Statens Seruminstitut, Artillerivej 5, 2300, Copenhagen S, Denmark

    S. Uldum & J. S. Jensen

  3. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    B. G. Bruun

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  1. J. M. Bangsborg
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  2. S. Uldum
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  4. B. G. Bruun
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Bangsborg, J.M., Uldum, S., Jensen, J.S. et al. Nosocomial legionellosis in three heart-lung transplant patients: Case reports and environmental observations. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 14, 99–104 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02111866

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