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Community-acquired pneumonia caused by Legionella longbeachae in an immunocompetent patient

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Abstract

Reported here is the case of a previously healthy 67-year-old man who was admitted to the intensive care unit with pneumonia caused by Legionella longbeachae. The organism was identified in sputum and serum by 16S rRNA-based PCR assay and sequence-based typing. One acute serum sample produced a single elevated IgM antibody titer of 1:512 against non-pneumophila Legionella spp. The patient fully recovered following the initiation of appropriate antibiotic treatment. Since most current laboratory tests for Legionella spp. cannot detect infections caused by non-pneumophila Legionella spp., culture on Legionella-selective media or PCR should be considered when diagnosing severe pneumonia of unknown etiology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, St. Elisabeth Hospital, P.O. Box 747, 5000, AS Tilburg, The Netherlands

    B. M. W. Diederen, A. van der Zee & M. F. Peeters

  2. Regional Public Health Laboratory, Groningen en Drenthe and Diaconessenhuis, Meppel, The Netherlands

    A. A. van Zwet

Authors
  1. B. M. W. Diederen
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  2. A. A. van Zwet
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  3. A. van der Zee
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  4. M. F. Peeters
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Correspondence to B. M. W. Diederen.

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Diederen, B.M.W., van Zwet, A.A., van der Zee, A. et al. Community-acquired pneumonia caused by Legionella longbeachae in an immunocompetent patient. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 24, 545–548 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-005-1368-9

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