Laboratory Tests for Legionnaire's Disease

Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2017 Mar;31(1):167-178. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2016.10.012. Epub 2016 Dec 12.

Abstract

Legionella pneumophila is one of the more recently discovered bacterial pathogens of humans. The last 2 decades have seen tremendous progress in the evolution of diagnostic tests, for detection and characterization of this pathogen and for defining the host response to infection. This has generated several diagnostic tools that span the range from simple immunologic assays to modern genome sequencing. This review describes the state of affairs of this continuously evolving field regarding the diagnosis of Legionnaire's disease and covers detection, assessment of antibiotic susceptibility, and epidemiologic characterization of isolates of L pneumophila and other pathogenic species within the genus.

Keywords: Characterization; Detection; Diagnostics; Legionella pneumophila.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Antigens, Bacterial / urine
  • Bacteriological Techniques*
  • DNA, Bacterial / analysis
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Humans
  • Legionella pneumophila* / drug effects
  • Legionella pneumophila* / genetics
  • Legionella pneumophila* / isolation & purification
  • Legionnaires' Disease* / diagnosis
  • Legionnaires' Disease* / microbiology
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • DNA, Bacterial