Comparing anti Legionella antibody titers between hospital workers and healthy population; a case-control study

ABSTRACT

To determinate Legionella antibody titers among healthcare workers and healthy population. The blood samples were collected from all 360 subjects [case and control] and the ELISA method was used to assess the anti-Legionella IgG titer. The statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software version 13. The mean of antibody titer was 5 +/- 0.38 in all participants. There was a 95.6% negative and a 2.2% positive antibody titer in the case group. In the control group, the negativity rate was 91.1% and the positivity rate was 6.7%. The antibody titer difference between two groups was not statistically significant [P value= 0.167]. The total antibody titer in both healthcare workers and healthy population was not high and the difference was not significant