Epidemiological typing of Legionella pneumophila with ribotyping. Report of two clinical cases.

The ribotyping method, adapted to the strains of Legionella pneumophila in our possession, was tested in two separate cases of legionellosis and in the associated finding of Legionella pneumophila in the water, from different sources, with which these patients had come into contact. Determination of the serogroup enabled us to carry out a preliminary analysis of the strains, which was then confirmed by application of the ribotyping procedure: the ribosomal profile of the strains found in the two patients correspond to that of the strains isolated from the water with which they had come into contact. These results provide important information concerning the probable sources of infection involved in these two cases of Legionnaires' disease. We consider ribotyping to be a very useful tool, which is easy and simple to perform and is applicable to the Legionella genus as the method of choice for epidemiological studies.