Legionella - a bacterium of life-giving water. Do we have anything to fear?

Recently, after the Covid-19 devastation caused by viral reports in the media for months, further concern may have been raised by information about fatal cases of Legionella pneumophila infection in Poland. Do we really have anything to fear? How to deal with a bacteria that has been with us for years?

What is Legionella?

Legionella are Gram-negative bacteria ( bacteria whose cell walls do not bind crystal violet when stained using the Gram method , which allows experimental differentiation of organisms into two groups G- and G+ due to the structure of the cell wall , physiology and susceptibility to drugs ) occurring in freshwater environments. The first group illness was reported in 1976 in Pennsylvania during a convention of World War II veterans of one of the American Legions. At that time, 186 people became ill with acute pneumonia and 34 died. Commemorating the first identified victims, the bacterium was named Legionella Pneumophila and the disease "legionellosis".

Legionella causes respiratory disease in humans when a susceptible host inhales aerosolized water containing the bacteria or aspirates water containing the bacteria. Classically, it presents with two distinct clinical entities: Legionnaires' disease , a severe multi-organ disease including pneumonia, fever, nonproductive cough, headache, myalgia, chills, shortness of breath, diarrhea, and delirium , and Pontiac fever , a flu-like illness.

1. pneumophila breeds at temperatures ranging from 25 to 42°C in artificial aquatic environments where the water temperature is higher than the ambient temperature. If left in their natural state, they would be an extremely rare cause of disease in humans because natural freshwater environments have not been recognized as a community for Legionellosis outbreaks. In addition this bacterium does not survive in dry environments. However, the probability that we will find it in domestic water tanks (e.g. boilers) is high. Stagnant water that heats up to a certain temperature (usually no higher than 50℃) is a natural and favorable environment for this bacteria. Additionally, research shows that Legionella survives in biofilms ( a multicellular layer of bacteria and microorganisms ) in building water systems. It also turns out that they are easier to detect based on biofilm from swabs than from flowing water.

In human infections, the bacterium can be isolated from many samples, including: blood, lung tissue, lung biopsy samples, respiratory secretions (sputum, bronchial alveolar lavage, bronchial aspirates) and feces. Studies show that sputum is less suitable than other respiratory secretions, especially in the early phase of the disease when few patients have a productive cough. When culturing sputum, it is best to pre-treat the sample by acidification or heating.

Who is most at risk of Legionella infection?

People most at risk of infection and complications are people over 40 years of age, people with diabetes, heart disease, smokers, people with reduced immunity, lung and kidney diseases, oncology patients and transplant patients. The human immune system, and therefore the bacterial flora of the large intestine, plays a very important role here. In the literature, we often come across the description of the intestine as the second brain. The functioning of these two organs turns out to be very interconnected in the sphere of neural connections, an example of which is human emotionality and the accompanying somatic symptoms. In addition, the intestine is responsible for managing the immune system and can function independently, isolated from the brain, which strongly supports this term. It is also worth mentioning that when diagnosing neurological diseases, the cause is often found in abnormalities in the functioning of the digestive system.

On this occasion, it should be repeated like a mantra: let's not forget about proper nutrition, physical activity and taking care of mental health - this definitely affects our well-being and many unconscious processes that take place inside the human body.

E. coli bacteria – “friend” or enemy?

The name E. coli may evoke conflicting feelings. Not everyone knows that the mentioned bacterium has both pathogenic and non-pathogenic forms in the human body. Over 100 years ago, in 1917, prof. Alfred Nissle, examining the stool of one of the patients suffering from dysentery - but not showing symptoms - isolated a strain of E. coli, which he used to treat patients with severe symptoms of the above-mentioned disease. The experiment turned out to be so effective that it initiated a number of studies on the use of the strain in the treatment of intestinal ailments. Today, we have confirmed reports and research conclusions indicating that the administration of the E. coli Nissle 1917 ( Ecn) strain resulted in a 70% reduction in the effectiveness of the invasion of Salmonella and other bacteria, including Legionella pneumophila. To better illustrate this, imagine that there are good and bad bacteria in the human body. The predominance of one or the other affects our health and whether non-pathogenic bacteria will be strong enough to fight pathogenic ones. Therefore, we should pay attention to the quality and deficits of each individual's bacterial flora, because it is in the intestines that we can find the answer to the question: Why did I get sick and my neighbor didn't?

Information about this particular strain of E. coli bacteria having such beneficial effects can be a revolution for every person and a weapon in the fight against pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Of course, intestinal microflora is an individual and much more complex topic. Nevertheless, it gives hope for finding a solution to reduce the incidence of disease and the absence of disease complications, because taking care of the intestinal microflora can ensure that drinking a glass of water with Legionella does not have a destructive effect on our body.


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Narum Forte is a medical device containing Escherichia coli Nissle 1917

Based on:

• Legionella and Legionnaires' disease: 25 years of research, Barry S. Fields , Robert F. Benson and Richard E. Besser , Clin Microbiol Rev. 2002 July;
• The probiotic Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 disrupts the invasion of human intestinal epithelial cells by various enteroinvasive bacterial pathogens, Artur Altenhoefer   , Sybilla Oswald , Ulrich Sonnenborn , Corinne Enders , Juergen Schulze , Joerg Haker , Tobiasz A Oelschlaeger ; FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol April 9, 2004
• https://www.doz.pl/Czytelia/a14520Czy_jelita_nazywamy_nazym_drugim_mozgiem