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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Tractable Mammalian Cell Infections with Protozoan-primed Bacteria
Published on: April 2, 2013
Community-acquired pneumonia caused by Legionella longbeachae in an immunocompetent patient
B M W Diederen1, A A van Zwet, A van der Zee
1Laboratory of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, St. Elisabeth Hospital, P.O. Box 747, 5000, AS Tilburg, The Netherlands. b.diederen@elisabeth.nl
Abstract:
Reported here is the case of a previously healthy 67-year-old man who was admitted to the intensive care unit with pneumonia caused by Legionella longbeachae. The organism was identified in sputum and serum by 16S rRNA-based PCR assay and sequence-based typing. One acute serum sample produced a single elevated IgM antibody titer of 1:512 against non-pneumophila Legionella spp. The patient fully recovered following the initiation of appropriate antibiotic treatment. Since most current laboratory tests for Legionella spp. cannot detect infections caused by non-pneumophila Legionella spp., culture on Legionella-selective media or PCR should be considered when diagnosing severe pneumonia of unknown etiology.
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