| Summary: | Introduction. Legionella pneumophila is the most commonly detected cause of
legionellosis, which is an acute respiratory tract infection with high
morbidity and mortality rates. Objective. The aim of this study was to
investigate the prevalence rate of L. pneumophila in bronchoalveolar lavages
and study the role of sex, age and history of smoking as risk factors for
susceptibility to the bacterium. Methods. One hundred bronchoalveolar lavage
samples were collected from the Iranian health centers and immediately
transferred to laboratory. The samples were cultured and those that were L.
pneumophila positive were subjected to PCR method with respect to the 16S
rRNA gene. Results. Twelve out of 100 samples were positive for L.
pneumophila (12%). Patients older than 70 years had the highest incidence of
L. pneumophila (17.77%). Prevalence of L. pneumophila in male and female
patients was 14.81% and 8.69%, respectively. Total incidence of L.
pneumophila in patients with and without history of smoking was 18% and 6%,
respectively. There were significant differences in the incidence of
bacterium between groups of our study. Conclusion. Sex, age and history of
smoking are predominant risk factors for the occurrence of L. pneumophila.
However, more studies should be undertaken to confirm these results.
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