What is Legionella antigen urine?

The most commonly used laboratory test for diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is the urinary antigen test (UAT), which detects a molecule of the Legionella bacterium in urine. If the patient has pneumonia and the test is positive, then you should consider the patient to have Legionnaires’ disease.

What is Legionella antibody?

What is this test? This test looks for an antibody that may be in your blood if you have Legionnaires’ disease. Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia or serious lung infection caused by bacteria called Legionella. Antibodies are proteins that your immune system makes to fight infection or foreign invaders.

How long do Legionella antibodies last?

Specimen Stability Information

Specimen Type Temperature Time
Serum Refrigerated (preferred) 14 days
Frozen 14 days

How do you get Legionnaires disease?

People can get Legionnaires’ disease or Pontiac fever when they breathe in small droplets of water in the air that contain the bacteria. Less commonly, people can get sick by aspiration of drinking water containing Legionella. This happens when water accidently goes into the lungs while drinking.

How do urine antigen tests work?

By capitalizing on the concentration of shed antigen from a variety of pathogens in the kidneys for excretion in the urine, urinary antigen testing can be used to obtain rapid test results related to respiratory infection, independent of an invasive collection such as a bronchoalveolar lavage.

What does positive Legionella test mean?

Legionella is a type of bacteria that can cause a serious form of pneumonia called Legionnaires disease. Legionella testing detects the presence of the bacteria or parts of it (antigens) to help diagnose the cause of a person’s pneumonia.

What antibiotics treat Legionella?

Medication Summary Mild Legionnaires disease can be treated with a single oral antibiotic regimen that have activity against legionella pneumophila including fluroquinolones such as levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin, macrolides like azithromycin, clarithromycin.

What disinfectant kills legionella?

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is another popular choice for disinfecting water sources to control legionella, other bacteria and importantly biofilm. There are many reasons for this.

Where is legionella commonly found?

Legionella exist naturally in water and moist soil. They have been found in creeks and ponds, hot and cold water taps, hot water tanks, water in air conditioning cooling towers and evaporative condensers, and soil at excavation sites.

How easy is it to get Legionnaires disease?

How you get Legionnaires’ disease. You can get Legionnaires’ disease if you breathe in tiny droplets of water containing bacteria that causes the infection. It’s usually caught in places like hotels, hospitals or offices where the bacteria have got into the water supply. It’s less common to catch it at home.

Where is Legionella commonly found?

Can a negative urinary antigen result cause Legionnaires disease?

However, all species and serogroups of Legionella are potentially pathogenic, so a patient with a negative urinary antigen result could have Legionnaires’ disease caused by other Legionella species or serogroups, which is why using culture and UAT in combination is recommended.

What kind of test is used to diagnose Legionnaires disease?

Urinary Antigen Test The most commonly used laboratory test for diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is the urinary antigen test (UAT), which detects a molecule of the Legionella bacterium in urine. If the patient has pneumonia and the test is positive, then you should consider the patient to have Legionnaires’ disease.

Can you still get Legionnaires disease after pneumonia?

If the patient has pneumonia and the test is positive, then you should consider the patient to have Legionnaires’ disease. The test can remain positive for a few weeks after infection, even with antibiotic treatment. The urinary antigen test detects the most common cause of Legionnaires’ disease, L. pneumophila serogroup 1.