Research on Legionella pneumophila in hospital supply networks

Abstract

The species of Legionella (gram-negative aerobic bacillus) are widely distributed in water environments. The Legionellaceae family comprises a group of fastidious bacteria that requires special isolation techniques, and of which the Legionella pneumophila is the member which is most commonly identified as the cause of human diseases or of the worsening of health conditions. The purpose of this work is to verify conditions in randomly chosen hospitals from the public system for the development of Legionella pneumophila, and, thus, contribute to the debate on legislation and technical standardization in the network, with the purpose of controlling and preventing the presence of this bacillus in the Brazilian hospital system. At the same time, some physicochemical and colimetric parameters (total and thermo-tolerant coliforms) were evaluated aiming at defining the total quality of water used. The results show the presence of coliforms and Legionella sp in the water used in the monitored hospitals. In this way, it is shown that the maintenance of the quality of water used in hospitals is fundamental, as well as the carrying out of biological tests for the detection of Legionella pneumophila so that the necessary safety of the hospital environment can be achieved.