Legionnaires' Disease News and Research

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Legionnaires’ disease is a microbial infection of the lungs that can be potentially life threatening. It is caused by the legionella bacteria.

Using whole genome sequencing to identify non-culturable Legionella

Legionnaires' disease (LD), a rare and severe type of pneumonia, is a respiratory infection caused by species of Legionella bacteria.

21 Mar 2024

OHSU study sheds light on ubiquitin modification during bacterial infection

New research from Oregon Health & Science University could one day lead to therapies that prevent or treat diseases and infections tied to a protein that's found in all human cells.

12 Dec 2023

Water distribution cabinets with floor heating pose Legionnaires' disease risk

Researchers at the Norwegian science institute SINTEF have been testing different types of water distribution cabinets.

30 Oct 2023

New collaboration to investigate forms of RNA modification

Universität Mainz Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences of Mainz University to collaborate with Monash University and ETH Zurich to investigate forms of RNA modification.

27 Jul 2023

UW Medicine identifies a case of Legionella pneumonia

A patient treated in September at UW Medical Center-Montlake was diagnosed with Legionella pneumonia presumed to be a healthcare-associated infection.

7 Oct 2022

Sporadic Legionnaires’ disease in commercial truck drivers could be attributed to vehicle windshield wiper fluid

A new study examines two cases of Legionnaires’ disease diagnosed via urine antigen test that were reported and linked to windshield wiper fluid contaminated with Legionella spp.

10 Mar 2022

Key protein helps bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in host cells

Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts.

10 May 2021

Annual Legionella Conference to address major health crisis

A virtual special session of the annual Legionella Conference co-hosted by NSF Health Sciences and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) will focus on disease prevention from waterborne pathogens during a public health crisis.

10 Dec 2020

Pitt researchers receive $330,000 to examine the effect of silver-coated fixtures on water disinfection

As workplaces prepare to reopen, precautionary measures like plexiglass barriers and sanitizer stations have been put in place to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

7 Jul 2020

NYU researchers capture 3D data on human interactions with COVID-19 infection sources

New York University researchers are in the field capturing highly detailed three-dimensional data on human movements and behaviors -- particularly around medical facilities, public transportation systems, and essential services -- to document the complex landscape of "surface vectors" and thus opportunities for COVID-19 transmission.

1 Apr 2020

Legionella Conference 2020 focuses on prevention of health care-associated waterborne diseases

Discussions at Legionella Conference 2020: Prevention of Disease and Injury From Waterborne Pathogens in Health Care will focus on hazards related to medical devices, cleaning and disinfection in sterile settings and water quality requirements in hospitals and health care facilities.

14 Feb 2020

Record number of Legionnaires’ cases in 2018 risk lives, cause cleanup headaches

Cases of Legionnaires' disease reached a record high in 2018 — a more than eight-fold increase since the numbers began to climb nearly two decades ago.

5 Nov 2019

Discovery of molecular mechanism behind spread of leishmania infection

Researchers from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) have made a breakthrough in understanding the reason behind the virulence of leishmania parasite. The leishmania parasite is responsible for causing leishmaniasis which affects over 12 million people across the globe and is a chronic parasitic disease.

14 Aug 2019

Researchers make scientific breakthrough regarding Leishmania virulence strategy

A team from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique has made a scientific breakthrough regarding the virulence strategy employed by the Leishmania parasite to infect cells of the immune system.

12 Aug 2019

Scientists find surprising insight into Legionnaires’ disease

The incidence of Legionnaires' disease has increased in the past two decades. The natural habitat of Legionella is freshwater biotopes, where they mainly reproduce in amoebae.

24 Jul 2019

Study finds triple the number of Legionnaire's cases than previously reported

The first New Zealand-wide study of the burden of Legionnaire's disease has found triple the number of cases of this form of pneumonia than previously reported.

11 Jun 2019

How pathogens are controlled under hypoxic conditions

Infected tissue has a low concentration of oxygen. The body's standard immune mechanisms, which rely on oxygen, can then only function to a limited extent.

24 May 2019

Sophisticated molecular machinery is used by dangerous pathogens to infect hosts

Gastric cancer, Q fever, Legionnaires' disease, whooping cough--though the infectious bacteria that cause these dangerous diseases are each different, they all utilize the same molecular machinery to infect human cells.

20 May 2019

Researchers examine how spray from showers and toilets expose us to disease causing bacteria

"Don't drink the water" might be good enough advice to keep you from getting sick in some places, but according to researchers from Arizona State and Drexel University, the admonition should probably be expanded to "...try not to breathe the water either."

17 Jan 2019

Softening agents added to drinking water may amplify risk of pathogen release

Many city drinking water systems add softening agents to keep plumbing free of pipe-clogging mineral buildup. According to new research, these additives may amplify the risk of pathogen release into drinking water by weakening the grip that bacteria - like those responsible for Legionnaires' disease - have on pipe interiors.

26 Jul 2018