Legionella species may rarely cause skin and soft tissue infections.
Species: Legionella longbeachae
Risk factors for infection:
(1) immunosuppression, including chronic corticosteroid therapy
(2) exposure to potting soils and gardening
(3) possibly exposure to a leaking potted plant
(4) poor hand hygiene
Clinical features:
(1) skin lesions on the extremity, possibly ulcerated
(2) lymphangitic spread
(3) failure to respond to standard therapy for a skin abscess
(4) exclusion of alternative explanations
In the patient studied the diagnosis was made using broad-range 16S rDNA PCR. Culture might have false negative results, especially if culture media was not optimized for Legionella recovery.
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