Contaminated Dental Surgery Equipment

The patient had been at home for the majority of the time during the 2 to 10 day incubation period, leaving only twice to attend dentist appointments. 

The investigators took water samples from the dental practice's tap, the tap and the high-speed turbine of the dental unit waterlines, as well as from the woman's home (shower and taps) in order to investigate possible 

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pneumophila contamination. They found that samples from her home tested negative for L pneumophila, but samples from the dental practice tested positive. After laboratory experiments were conducted, results showed genomic matching between L pneumphila in the dental unit waterline and in the women's respiratory secretion. 

L pneumophila is a Gram-negative bacterium found in man-made water systems and is ubiquitous in natural water environments. The bacteria can infect individuals by inhalation or microaspiration of aerosolized water causing Pontiac fever (a flu-like disease) or Legionnaires' disease (severe pneumonia), mostly affecting immune-compromised patients and the elderly. 

Spas, fountains, air-conditioning systems, and hot-water systems, have been demonstrated to be leading sources of infection. 

It has been widely documented that dental waterlines are substantially contaminated with Legionella and studies have also demonstrated that the blood of dentists and dental practice staff has a higher prevalence of antibodies to L pneumophila, which indicates that people working in a dental practice environment are potentially at risk. However, prior to this case, the researchers knew no other cases in which Legionnaires' disease had been linked to this source of infection. 

Source : medicalnewstoday