[Occurrence of free-living amoebae and Legionella in whirlpool bathes].
Open Access
- 1 January 1998
- journal article
- abstracts
- Published by The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases in Kansenshogaku Zasshi
- Vol. 72 (10) , 1056-1063
- https://doi.org/10.11150/kansenshogakuzasshi1970.72.1056
Abstract
Occurrence of both Legionella species and free-living amoebae were surveyed in whirlpool bathes installed in 11 private houses, 8 public bathes and 13 spas. Free-living amoebae that are known to be the hosts of Legionella were isolated from 24 out of 32 water samples (75%). SingleLegionella species, L. pneumophila, with different serogroups (SG) predominantly SG3 (18.3%), SG5 (23.7%) and SG6 (15.8%), were isolated from 21 damples, ranging from 101 to 104CFU/100ml. Further studies were conducted for 10 consecutive weeks to monitor the occurrence of both free-living amoebae and Legionella in the whirlpool bathes of 4 private houses. Free-living amoebae, such as Hartmennella and Vexillifera, and L. pneumophila SG1, SG3, SG4, SG5 and SG6 were consistently isolated from all the water samples throughout the monitoring periods. Bath basins in which Hartmennella and Vannella were isolated tended to harbor large number of Legionella. Management practices such as frequent washing filter elements and/or frequent addition of tap water to bath basins is highly recommened to reduce microbial contaminants.Keywords
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