Isolation of Legionella pneumophila from Hospital Shower Heads

Abstract

L. pneumophila serogroup 6 was isolated from 9 of 16 shower heads in a Chicago [Illinois, USA,] hospital ward where 3 patients had contracted Legionnaires'' disease caused by serogroup 6 L. pneumophila. Each patient had showered there 2-10 days before the onset of disease symptoms. The bacteria, were also isolated in 2 other hospitals; the same serogroups were found as had been causing Legionnaires'' disease in those hospitals: serogroup 1 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and serogroups 1 and 4 in Los Angeles, California. Showers from hospital wards where no patients had contracted Legionnaires'' disease also yielded L. pneumophila. Shower heads at the Chicago hospital were sterilized with ethylene oxide but rapidly became recontaminated, suggesting that the potable water at these hospitals may have contained the organism. The question of whether aerosols of shower water or other exposures to potable water containing L. pneumophila may cause nosocomial Legionnaires'' disease has not been resolved but deserves further study.