Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative, aerobic, intracellular bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia, and Pontiac fever, a milder, self-limiting flu-like illness. It thrives in warm freshwater environments and man-made water systems such as cooling towers, plumbing, and hot tubs, where it can persist within biofilms and parasitise free-living amoebae. Human infection occurs via inhalation of aerosolised water droplets containing the bacteria; person-to-person transmission is extremely rare. Inside the host, L. pneumophila survives and multiplies within alveolar macrophages by preventing phagosome–lysosome fusion, leading to inflammation and lung injury.

Legionnaires’ disease typically presents with fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle aches, gastrointestinal symptoms, and sometimes confusion, and can be fatal, especially in older adults, smokers, and immunocompromised individuals. Rapid diagnosis and treatment with appropriate antibiotics, such as macrolides or fluoroquinolones, are critical for reducing mortality.

Product Details:

Quality:

All Advanced Molecular Diagnostics products are manufactured in-house under the highest quality standards.

Sensitivity:

The Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Legionella pneumophila qPCR Detection Kit is highly sensitive and can detect a minimum of 10 copies per reaction, as validated by our in-house methods.

Specificity:

The Advanced Molecular Legionella pneumophila qPCR Detection Kit is highly specific, as validated by our in-house methods.

Sample Collection: