ArticleJournal of applied microbiology2011
An international trial of quantitative PCR for monitoring Legionella in artificial water systems.
Article in Journal of applied microbiology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Detection performance of PCR for Legionella pneumophila in environmental samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2022Pooled it
- MitigatingJournal of water and health · 2025Article
- Interlaboratory comparison of culture- and PCR-based methods forApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- PCR-BasedMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Foresight 2035: a perspective on the next decade of research on the management of Legionella spp. in engineered aquatic environments.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Two-stage surveillance ofSAGE open medicine · 2025Article
- Virulence Genes and Biofilm Formation Among Legionella pneumophila Isolates Collected from Hospital Water Sources.Current microbiology · 2024Article
- Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Framework Incorporating Water Ages withEnvironmental science & technology · 2024Article
- Performance evaluation of a low-throughput qPCR-based Legionella assay for utility as an onsite industrial water system monitoring method.Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology · 2024Article
- Prevalence ofEnvironment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2023Article
- Conceptual model to informFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- Inaccuracies of the ISO 11731 Method for Environmental Validation ofMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- Article
- Comparison of the culture method with multiplex PCR for the confirmation of Legionella spp. and Legionella pneumophila.Journal of applied microbiology · 2021Article
- Legionella and other opportunistic pathogens in full-scale chloraminated municipal drinking water distribution systems.Water research · 2021Article
- Confirming the Presence of Legionella pneumophila in Your Water System: A Review of Current Legionella Testing Methods.Journal of AOAC International · 2021Review
- Evaluation of an Environmental Transport Medium forInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Comparison of Updated Methods forInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Evaluation of Legiolert™ for the Detection of Legionella pneumophila and Comparison with Spread-Plate Culture and qPCR Methods.Current microbiology · 2021Article
- Rapid Testing and Interventions to ControlMicroorganisms · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsTo perform an international trial to derive alert and action levels for the use of quantitative PCR (qPCR) in the monitoring of Legionella to determine the effectiveness of control measures against legionellae. METHODS AND
resultsLaboratories (7) participated from six countries. Legionellae were determined by culture and qPCR methods with comparable detection limits. Systems were monitored over ≥10 weeks. For cooling towers (232 samples), there was a significant difference between the log mean difference between qPCR (GU l(-1) ) and culture (CFU l(-1) ) for Legionella pneumophila (0·71) and for Legionella spp. (2·03). In hot and cold water (506 samples), the differences were less, 0·62 for Leg. pneumophila and 1·05 for Legionella spp. Results for individual systems depended on the nature of the system and its treatment. In cooling towers, Legionella spp. GU l(-1) always exceeded CFU l(-1) , and usually Legionella spp. were detected by qPCR when absent by culture. The pattern of results by qPCR for Leg. pneumophila followed the culture trend. In hot and cold water, culture and qPCR gave similar results, particularly for Leg. pneumophila. There were some marked exceptions with temperatures ≥50°C, or in the presence of supplementary biocides. Action and alert levels for qPCR were derived that gave results comparable to the application of the European Guidelines based on culture. Algorithms are proposed for the use of qPCR for routine monitoring.
conclusionsAction and alert levels for qPCR can be adjusted to ensure public health is protected with the benefit that remedial actions can be validated earlier with only a small increase in the frequency of action being required. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study confirms it is possible to derive guidelines on the use of qPCR for monitoring the control of legionellae with consequent improvement to response and public health protection.
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