Legionella: prawo i rekomendacje w Polsce i na świecie

*Mariusz Żak¹, Piotr Zaborowski²

Summary
Legionella sp. is an opportunist human pathogen. The bacteria is ubiquitous and displays tropism to artificial water systems. In Poland five years ago new regulations concerning quality of drinking water have been enforced. The regulations order to test warm water against Legionella sp. Awareness about the problem is rising systematically but national guidelines about prevention of Legionella infections are still not available in Poland. Quantitative identification of Legionella sp. with microbiological method based on cultivation is routinely used for infection risk assessment. This approach has many limitations and single water analysis with this method do not provide comprehensive results. European guidelines formed by EWGLI and WHO, as well as national guidelines of many developed countries place emphasis on the need for creating risk assessment and management plans for drinking water distribution systems and cooling towers. Detection of Legionella sp. is also a complex issue, several methods has been developed and the interpretation of result requires experienced microbiologist. The new methods take advantage of classic microbiological methods as well as molecular biology and put emphasis on ability to discriminate between viable and not viable cells as well as viable but viable not cultivable. Reduction of the time required for analysis is also significant because the microbiological cultivation last up to 14 days. It is also crucial to popularize the issue, because the systematic control of installations is the most effective way to minimize the risk of infection.

To jest tylko fragment artykułu. Aby przeczytać całość, przejdź do Czytelni medycznej.