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Comparing methods of determining Legionella spp. in complex water matrices

2015; BioMed Central; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1186/s12866-015-0423-7

1471-2180

Álvaro Díaz-Flores, Juan Carlos Montero, Francisco Javier Castro, Eva María Alejandres, Carmen Bayón, Inmaculada Solís, Roberto Fernandéz‐Lafuente, Guillermo Rodríguez‐Gutiérrez,

Biosensors and Analytical Detection

Legionella testing conducted at environmental laboratories plays an essential role in assessing the risk of disease transmission associated with water systems. However, drawbacks of culture-based methodology used for Legionella enumeration can have great impact on the results and interpretation which together can lead to underestimation of the actual risk. Up to 20% of the samples analysed by these laboratories produced inconclusive results, making effective risk management impossible. Overgrowth of competing microbiota was reported as an important factor for culture failure. For quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the interpretation of the results from the environmental samples still remains a challenge. Inhibitors may cause up to 10% of inconclusive results. This study compared a quantitative method based on immunomagnetic separation (IMS method) with culture and qPCR, as a new approach to routine monitoring of Legionella.