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[10 years of legionellosis in Italy (June 1980-June 1990)].
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 1991; 27(2):289-95.AI

Abstract

Legionella infection was recognized as a cause of human disease in 1976, following the occurrence of an epidemic at Bellevue Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, USA. In the subsequent years, various cases, both sporadic and epidemical, have been reported worldwide. In Italy, the first reports date from 1980. The compulsory notification of the disease was established in February 1983, and a few months later a National Surveillance Programme started operating at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome. Up to June 30, 1990, 542 confirmed cases of legionellosis were reported. For 249 of them, data of clinical and epidemiological significance are available. The incidence of the disease is higher in males (76% of total cases) and 51.5% of the patients are aged more than 50 years. During the clinical course, the occurrence of hepatic and/or renal dysfunction, cough, dyspnoea, diarrhoea and confusion was documented in a significant proportion of patients. The fatality rate was 12.4%. The disease occurred both sporadically and epidemically. Namely, clusters and outbreaks were detected all over the country, accounting for a total of 97 cases. Hospital patients should be regarded as an important category at risk for infection. The occurrence is also frequent among travellers and tourists, because of the stressing factors that may increase individual susceptibility, as well as the more frequent contact with infective sources. In Italy, the major risk of infection appears connected with water plumbing systems of hotels, residential houses and hospitals, where oxygen bubble-humidifiers have been found to represent an important source of infection. On the contrary, the association of human infection with air conditioning systems has not been evidenced up-to-now.

Authors+Show Affiliations

Castellani Pastoris M
Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma.
Benedetti P
No affiliation info available
Greco D
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdultAgedDisease OutbreaksDisease ReservoirsDisease SusceptibilityFemaleHumansIncidenceItalyLegionellosisLegionnaires' DiseaseMaleMiddle AgedPopulation SurveillanceRegistries

Pub Type(s)

English Abstract
Journal Article

Language

ita

PubMed ID

1755582

Citation

Castellani Pastoris, M, et al. "[10 Years of Legionellosis in Italy (June 1980-June 1990)]." Annali dell'Istituto Superiore Di Sanita, vol. 27, no. 2, 1991, pp. 289-95.
Castellani Pastoris M, Benedetti P, Greco D. [10 years of legionellosis in Italy (June 1980-June 1990)]. Ann Ist Super Sanita. 1991;27(2):289-95.
Castellani Pastoris, M., Benedetti, P., & Greco, D. (1991). [10 years of legionellosis in Italy (June 1980-June 1990)]. Annali dell'Istituto Superiore Di Sanita, 27(2), 289-95.
Castellani Pastoris M, Benedetti P, Greco D. [10 Years of Legionellosis in Italy (June 1980-June 1990)]. Ann Ist Super Sanita. 1991;27(2):289-95. PubMed PMID: 1755582.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - [10 years of legionellosis in Italy (June 1980-June 1990)]. AU - Castellani Pastoris,M, AU - Benedetti,P, AU - Greco,D, PY - 1991/1/1/pubmed PY - 1991/1/1/medline PY - 1991/1/1/entrez SP - 289 EP - 95 JF - Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita JO - Ann Ist Super Sanita VL - 27 IS - 2 N2 - Legionella infection was recognized as a cause of human disease in 1976, following the occurrence of an epidemic at Bellevue Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, USA. In the subsequent years, various cases, both sporadic and epidemical, have been reported worldwide. In Italy, the first reports date from 1980. The compulsory notification of the disease was established in February 1983, and a few months later a National Surveillance Programme started operating at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome. Up to June 30, 1990, 542 confirmed cases of legionellosis were reported. For 249 of them, data of clinical and epidemiological significance are available. The incidence of the disease is higher in males (76% of total cases) and 51.5% of the patients are aged more than 50 years. During the clinical course, the occurrence of hepatic and/or renal dysfunction, cough, dyspnoea, diarrhoea and confusion was documented in a significant proportion of patients. The fatality rate was 12.4%. The disease occurred both sporadically and epidemically. Namely, clusters and outbreaks were detected all over the country, accounting for a total of 97 cases. Hospital patients should be regarded as an important category at risk for infection. The occurrence is also frequent among travellers and tourists, because of the stressing factors that may increase individual susceptibility, as well as the more frequent contact with infective sources. In Italy, the major risk of infection appears connected with water plumbing systems of hotels, residential houses and hospitals, where oxygen bubble-humidifiers have been found to represent an important source of infection. On the contrary, the association of human infection with air conditioning systems has not been evidenced up-to-now. SN - 0021-2571 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/1755582/[10_years_of_legionellosis_in_Italy__June_1980_June_1990_]_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -