Efficacy of Regular Quarterly Environmental Inspection for Legionella bacteria in Hospital Water System

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  • FUSHIMI Kana
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital
  • TSUCHIYA Ken
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital
  • SAITO Atsuko
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital
  • SARATANI Kazuma
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital Department of Pharmacy, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital
  • HARADA Seiji
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital Department of Pharmacy, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital
  • ASHIZAWA Hiroki
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital
  • MASUDA Masafumi
    Infection Control Committee, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital

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Other Title
  • 院内給水におけるレジオネラ属菌定期環境検査の有効性

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Abstract

<p>Our hospital has performed a regular environmental inspection for Legionella bacteria at 123 sites in our feed-water system since 1997. Based on data collected since 2008, Legionella bacteria have been detected at 47 sites, such as bathrooms, lavatories, common shower units for patients, and dental units. The same type of Legionella bacteria has been detected repeatedly at 24 sites. These findings suggest that these bacteria took root in the feed-water system, which served as a favorable environment for growth and proliferation of the bacteria. It was difficult to implement effective environmental measures against Legionella bacteria for many years. However, we were able to take early and appropriate actions at individual sites by understanding daily proliferation of the bacteria and identifying the causes of growth based on the repeated environmental inspections. This suggests that it is important to perform monitoring on a periodic basis to maintain the effectiveness of any implemented measures. To date, there have been no cases of hospital-acquired legionellosis in our hospital. The quarterly regular environmental inspection costs 224,844 yen per year, but this regular inspection for Legionella bacteria is effective in preventing hospital-acquired legionellosis in control of hospital-acquired infections. It is important for individual facilities to take measures based on their particular facility structure in order to reduce infection risks for hospitalized patients and improve cost efficiency.</p>

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