The Centers for Illness Manage and Prevention (CDC) has announced that the Pennsylvania Division of Well being has grow to be the very first in the United States to determine the transmission of Legionella from an organ straight to a transplant patient. This discovery has the possible to avoid the transfer of Legionella in future transplant recipients. The Department’s group of epidemiologists, who investigate the causes and patterns of illnesses, found a suspected Legionella transmission from a single donor lung to two recipients. Ordinarily, transplant individuals with weakened immune systems are at an elevated threat of contracting Legionella from the atmosphere soon after getting a transplant. Nevertheless, the Department’s study reveals that the two transplant recipients in this case have been infected by the organ itself, rather than the atmosphere. Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Well being, expressed pride in the department’s epidemiologists for this groundbreaking discovery and their possible to enhance patient outcomes and cut down really serious lung infections amongst transplant recipients.

Legionella bacteria is accountable for causing Legionnaires illness, which is a extreme kind of pneumonia. In 2022, the CDC and the Pennsylvania Division of Well being investigated situations of Legionnaires illness in two transplant individuals who each received a single lung from the very same donor. To decide if the infections have been transmitted by way of the transplanted organs and to determine other potentially at-threat individuals, investigators studied CT scans, tested specimens for Legionella, and reviewed water high-quality parameters and Legionella testing records from the transplant hospital. Prompt identification of Legionella infection is essential for productive remedy and to avoid additional complications.

The Pennsylvania Division of Health’s study on this transmission of Legionella from organ to transplant recipient has been published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). For media inquiries, please make contact with Mark O’Neill at ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov.