Hand in Hand approach by culture and PCR a plausible solution for effective management of risks associated with Legionella in water samples

Legionella in water distribution systems appear to be an unescapable threat to public health. The intensity of Legionellosis may vary from mild respiratory illness to potentially deadly pneumonia. Global incidences of Legionnaires disease outbreak has been raising over the years. Thus reliable analytical procedures play a crucial role in the evaluation of risk assessment and control of Legionella. Analytical methods involving traditional culture method and PCR based rapid methods are currently being used in water quality monitoring. While each method has its own advantages and limitations of underestimating and overestimating the occurrence of Legionella, we propose simultaneous application of culture and real time PCR for effective monitoring of Legionella in water distribution systems.