Skip Navigation



IJE Advance Access published online on January 24, 2006
International Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/ije/dyi317
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
35/2/354    most recent
dyi317v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ricketts, K. D
Right arrow Articles by Joseph, C. A
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ricketts, K. D
Right arrow Articles by Joseph, C. A
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2006; all rights reserved
Accepted December 20, 2005

Original paper

What is the probability of successive cases of legionnaires' disease occurring in european hotels?

K. D Ricketts 1 *, E Slaymaker 2, N. Q Verlander 1, and C. A Joseph 1

1 Health Protection Agency, Centre for Infections, London, UK
2 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
K. D Ricketts, E-mail: katherine.ricketts{at}hpa.org.uk


  Abstract

Background Public health officials will normally take action at accommodation sites following an association with a cluster of cases of Legionnaires' disease. This paper seeks to determine the likelihood of such a cluster occurring at a site once it has been associated with a single case of the disease, and therefore whether more should be done at sites following individual cases.

Methods Information for UK residents reported to the EWGLINET system between 1993 and 2000 was included in a dataset. The size and country of hotel visited by the cases were divided into six country groups (France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, other Europe and other World), and eight size groups (<20 rooms, 20-49, 50-99, 100-199, 200-299, 300-399, 400-499, 500+). The data were investigated using Cox proportional hazards regression to model the probability of at least one further case following the first.

Results The dataset comprised 793 cases that had stayed at 605 sites in 51 countries between 1993 and the end of 2000. This included 605 cases that were the first case associated with a site, and 188 subsequent cases. Following the first case, 16.6% of sites were associated with at least one subsequent case during the period under study. The probability of a subsequent case occurring within 6 months of the first varied by country and size group, with some combinations returning a probability >30%; the probability of a subsequent case occurring within 2 years of the first reached over 50% in some instances.

Conclusions There may be support for early intervention at some accommodation sites following a first case of Legionnaires' disease, in specific country and size groups.

Keywords: Legionnaires' disease; international surveillance; travellers; survival analysis.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.