Legionella Test Reporting at a Regional Veteran Affairs Medical Center

Abstract

Abstract Introduction/Objective The appropriate reporting and monitoring of legionella antigen and culture test volumes and results is a veteran affairs quality assurance regulatory requirement. Legionnaires disease incidence has been noted to be increasing in the United States, and it has also been documented that health care facilities are especially high- risk settings for the transmission of Legionella bacteria from the building water systems to the occupants. However, studies of Legionella test epidemiology for non-veteran hospitals is sparse in the literature. To provide perspective, here we report the total legionella antigen and culture tests from quarter 1 2016 to quarter 4 2019 to provide a regional perspective. Methods Quality assurance data on both the total number of Legionella antigen and culture tests and the recorded number of positive cases were reviewed from quarter 1 2016 to quarter 4 2019 and tabulated. This data is collected routinely as per veteran affairs regulatory directives. Results There were a total of 1613 legionella antigen tests and 1287 legionella cultures. None of the Legionella cultures were positive during the study period. Nonetheless, there were 3 positive urinary antigen tests for a total calculated percentage of 0.00002%. Conclusion The presence of positive Legionella antigen tests at a regional veteran affairs medical center indicates that a robust quality assurance program is tremendous benefit to monitoring Legionella at a major medical institution in order to prompt action to prevent hospital-based spread.