Detection of Legionella spp. in Public Hospitals Water Supplies in Lattakia-Syria Shahrour Eiman2,*, Khamees Atiia2, Almahmoud Iyad1 1Department of Medical Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria 2Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria *Corresponding Author E-mail: eimanm.shahrour@gmail.com
Online published on 12 June, 2018. Abstract The present study was designed to evaluate the occurrence of Legionella spp. contamination in water taps and water tanks of public hospitals, Lattakia, Syria. It is the first study about Legionella in Syria. One hundred and thirty swabs from water taps and 26L of water from water tanks of seven hospitals were collected and detected for the presence of Legionella spp. by using GVPC, BCYE, BCY agar. The results were 49 of 130 (37.69%) water tap samples which were positive for Legionella spp, and most water tank samples were positive for Legionella spp., too. In conclusion, Legionella spp. are present in aquatic hospitals environment of Lattakia, Syria, so hospital water systems may be the primary reservoirs for Legionnaires’ disease. Due to the serious risk of infections, it is better to make efforts to eliminate Legionella spp. in water supplies in Hospitals. Top Keywords Legionella spp, Legionelosis, Water system, GVPC, BCY and BCYE. Top |