Khaledi A, Esmaeili SA, Vazini H, Karami P, Bahrami A, Sahebkar A. Evaluation of the prevalence of Legionella pneumophila in Iranian clinical samples: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Microb Pathog 2019;
129:93-98. [PMID:
30738817 DOI:
10.1016/j.micpath.2019.02.008]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Revised: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Legionella pneumophila is the main cause for community-acquired pneumonia especially in hospital environments. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we evaluated the prevalence of L. pneumophila in clinical samples obtained from Iranian patients.
METHODS
The studies reporting L. pneumophila prevalence in Iranian clinical samples that were published between January 2000 and July 2016 were recruited. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software (version 3.3.070) was used for quantitative data analysis. Because of high heterogeneity between the studies according to the Cochrane Q and I2 statistics, a random-effects model was used for meta-analysis.
RESULTS
Sixteen studies encompassing 1956 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. The overall prevalence of L. pneumophila was 9.6% in clinical samples obtained from the Iranian patients. The age spectrum ranged from 6 months to 80 years old. Dyspnea and cough comprised the most common clinical manifestations. In the subgroup analysis, the prevalence of L. pneumophila was higher in studies with sample size ≤100 (12.9%) in comparison with studies with sample size >100 (8.4%). In addition, the prevalence of L. pneumophila was higher in the years 2009-2016 (9.2%) compared with 2000-2008 (0.7%).
CONCLUSION
L. pneumophila is a major cause of community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia. It is of pivotal importance to implement sensitive and reliable molecular and culture-based techniques to detect and control this infection in healthcare environments.
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