Dual infections with different Legionella strains

In 2010 a case of a dual infection with Legionella pneumophila serogroup (sg) 1 and sg 3 was identified by culture of a blood sample collected from a female Austrian patient with septic pneumonia. Subsequently all 35 European National Legionella Reference Laboratories were interviewed regarding the frequency of dual infections in legionellosis. The Reference Laboratories in Denmark, the UK and Germany reported the detection of another 14 cases of dual infections with different Legionella strains between 2002 and 2012. Among the 15 cases, there were four cases with different Legionella species, six cases with different L. pneumophila serogroups, and five cases of dual infections with L. pneumophila sg 1 with different MAb-types. The median age of the 15 cases was 56 years and the male to female ratio 1:1.14. Six of the 15 patients were receiving immunosuppressive treatment following organ transplantation (n = 3) or for underlying haematological and solid malignancies (n = 3). Five of the 15 cases died within 30 days following diagnosis. Efforts to detect dual infections with different Legionella strains will improve our ability to correctly elucidate the causative sources of infection and enhance our understanding of the epidemiology of Legionella infections.