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Review
. 2014 Sep 24:5:501.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00501. eCollection 2014.

Uncertainties associated with assessing the public health risk from Legionella

Harriet Whiley  1 , Alexandra Keegan  2 , Howard Fallowfield  1 , Kirstin Ross  1
Affiliations
Review

Uncertainties associated with assessing the public health risk from Legionella

Harriet Whiley et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Legionella is an opportunistic pathogen of public health concern. Current regulatory and management guidelines for the control of this organism are informed by risk assessments. However, there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties regarding Legionella epidemiology, strain infectivity, infectious dose, and detection methods. This review follows the EnHealth Risk Assessment Framework, to examine the current information available regarding Legionella risk and discuss the uncertainties and assumptions. This review can be used as a tool for understanding the uncertainties associated with Legionella risk assessment. It also serves to highlight the areas of Legionella research that require future focus. Improvement of these uncertainties will provide information to enhance risk management practices for Legionella, potentially improving public health protection and reducing the economic costs by streamlining current management practices.

Keywords: L. pneumophila; Legionella; Legionellosis; QMRA; public health; risk assessment.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
EnHealth risk assessment framework adapted from Priestly et al. (2012).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Uncertainties of Legionella risk assessment highlighted through each step of the EnHealth risk assessment frame work.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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