Diagnosis of Legionnaire's disease

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If you develop the above symptoms and you are worried that it might be legionnaires' disease, you should see your GP. If your GP suspects that you have Legionnairesâ€™ disease, diagnosis may be made by checking the levels in the blood of antibodies to the Legionella bacteria from a blood test in the laboratory. A person with a recent infection will show a rapid rise in the antibody levels in quite a short period of time. There may be a four-fold rise in a few days.

The diagnosis can also be confirmed in the laboratory by isolating the Legionella bacteria from sputum. A urine test can also be used to confirm that the bacteria are the Legionella bacteria.

A chest X-ray in hospital can confirm the presence of pneumonia. It will show shadowing, usually in one lower lung lobe. This spreads progressively in the same lung and to the other lung. The infection in the lungs, as shown by the X-ray shadowing, is slow to clear. In one-third of cases the shadowing is still present at three months, and it may take six months to clear completely.