{"id":9535,"date":"2024-07-04T02:37:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T00:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/legionella-risk-guidelines-and-regulatory-references-for-effective-control\/"},"modified":"2024-11-15T14:20:05","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T13:20:05","slug":"legionella-risk-guidelines-and-regulatory-references-for-effective-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/legionella-risk-guidelines-and-regulatory-references-for-effective-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Legionella Risk: Guidelines and Regulatory References for Effective Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n

To comprehend the risk associated with\u00a0Legionella<\/em>\u00a0and the suggested control measures for its containment, it is necessary to review some characteristics of this aquatic pathogen.<\/p>\n\n

Legionella<\/em>\u00a0is a genus of gram-negative bacteria, with about 60 species identified to date;\u00a0Legionella pneumophila<\/em>\u00a0alone is responsible for about 90% of documented cases of the disease.<\/p>\n\n

Legionella<\/em>\u00a0is present in all aquatic environments, both natural and artificial,<\/strong>\u00a0favoring conditions characterized by stagnant water and the presence of limestone and biofilm. Temperature is another crucial parameter: while capable of surviving in a wide range of temperatures, it thrives between 20\u00b0C and 50\u00b0C.<\/p>\n\n

Legionella<\/em>\u00a0infection (legionellosis) can be fatal in about 10% of cases, rising to 30% in immunocompromised individuals.<\/strong>\u00a0A WHO report emphasizes that these bacteria are the leading cause of\u00a0waterborne disease in the European Union,<\/strong>\u00a0while annual reports from the ECDC highlight a constant increase in the incidence of this severe pulmonary infection.<\/p>\n\n

It is, therefore, unsurprising that regulatory bodies and both national and international regulations demand increasing attention to this microbiological hazard.<\/p>\n\n

Let\u2019s look in detail at the most important regulatory references.<\/p>\n\n

Legionella<\/em> Prevention Guidelines \n<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n
    \n
  1. D. Lgs. 81\/2008<\/strong> \nBeing classified as a group 2 biological agent,\u00a0Legionella is one of the microorganisms that must be adequately controlled in all workplaces to ensure the appropriate protection of workers\u2019 safety and health<\/strong>, as mandated by D. Lgs. 81\/2008. It is the employer\u2019s responsibility to conduct a thorough risk assessment, with the support of industry experts, and implement suitable preventive measures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Linee guida per la prevenzione ed il controllo della legionellosi, 2015<\/span><\/strong>Nel 2015 il Ministero della Salute ha elaborato, con la collaborazione dell\u2019Istituto Superiore di Sanit\u00e0, un documento che, alla luce delle indicazioni fornite dall\u2019OMS nelle sue linee guida del 2007 e delle pi\u00f9 recenti evidenze scientifiche, riassumesse le informazioni pi\u00f9 rilevanti riguardo alle caratteristiche ecologiche di Legionella e all\u2019epidemiologia delle infezioni di cui \u00e8 responsabile<\/strong>. Questo documento, approvato in Conferenza Stato-Regioni, contiene inoltre indicazioni circa i metodi analitici e diagnostici, nonch\u00e9 i protocolli a cui attenersi per un\u2019idonea valutazione del rischio<\/a> e per una adeguata progettazione e gestione degli impianti idrici<\/strong>, in particolar modo di quelli per la produzione e distribuzione di acqua calda sanitaria (leggi di pi\u00f9<\/a>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. European Technical Guidelines for the Prevention, Control, and Investigation of Infections Caused by Legionella Species, 2017 \n<\/strong>More recently, the European guidelines for the prevention and control of Legionella risk have been revised to include information derived from the latest scientific literature, as well as from extensive monitoring and surveillance work conducted at the community level by the ECDC.<\/strong>\u00a0Consequently, in 2017, the ESGLI (ESCMID Study Group for\u00a0Legionella<\/em>\u00a0Infections) published an updated technical document (read it here<\/a>),\u00a0aimed primarily at harmonizing procedures among member states.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Linee guida per la prevenzione della Legionella nelle torri di raffreddamento, 2018<\/strong><\/span>Sebbene le cause non siano state identificate con certezza, la massiva diffusione di casi di Legionellosi comunitaria verificatasi nell\u2019estate del 2018 nel bresciano ha posto l\u2019accento sul possibile ruolo delle torri evaporative come via di diffusione di Legionella:<\/em> per questo nel dicembre dello stesso anno ATS Brescia, in collaborazione con AIB e ANIMA, ha redatto specifiche linee guida, con lo scopo di fornire informazioni volte a minimizzare e mantenere sotto controllo la contaminazione da Legionella<\/em> nei sistemi di raffreddamento per evaporazione<\/strong>. Il documento definisce come punti chiave un adeguato controllo dell\u2019acqua in circolo e un programma di manutenzione per mantenere l\u2019impianto pulito e in buone condizioni. (leggi di pi\u00f9<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Direttiva (UE) 2020\/2184<\/strong><\/span>Proprio nel nostro precedente articolo<\/a> abbiamo parlato della nuova direttiva europea relativa alla qualit\u00e0 dell\u2019acqua potabile<\/strong> (Drinking Water Directive – DWD), che mira a promuovere il raggiungimento di standard qualitativi sempre pi\u00f9 elevati per la gestione dell\u2019acqua destinata al consumo umano<\/strong>. Tra le pi\u00f9 importanti novit\u00e0 introdotte da questo recentissimo aggiornamento normativo figura anche l\u2019introduzione di Legionella<\/em> come parametro rilevante per la valutazione dei potenziali rischi<\/strong> connessi ai sistemi di distribuzione domestica.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    \n
    \n \nThis further demonstrates the recognized health significance of Legionellosis outbreaks and the increasing attention required to ensure effective control of the risk associated with\u00a0Legionella<\/em> proliferation and contamination. Proper management of this risk necessitates in-depth technical-scientific knowledge and expertise. \n \n<\/div> \n<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A report from the WHO highlights that these bacteria are the primary cause of waterborne disease in the European Union.
    \nIt is therefore unsurprising that regulatory bodies and both national and international regulations demand increasing attention to this microbiological hazard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[345],"tags":[366,367,361],"class_list":["post-9535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulations-and-directives","tag-legionella-prevention","tag-guidelines","tag-sanipur-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9535"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10898,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535\/revisions\/10898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sanipur.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}