Inverness Medical has introduced the Binaxnow Legionella test, which provides results from urine samples in fifteen minutes.
Diagnosis of Legionnaire's disease previously relied on culturing sputum samples, which can be difficult to obtain.
Invasive procedures were often required to obtain a sputum specimen, causing discomfort to the patient.
The Binaxnow Legionella test allows early diagnosis of Legionnaire's disease by detecting the presence of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 antigen from a urine sample, rather than the live bacteria Legionella pneumophila.
Legionella antigens can appear at detectable levels one to three days from the onset of symptoms and are an ideal marker for early identification of the disease.
The elderly and immuno-compromised are most at risk of Legionnaire's disease.
Between 1995 and 2005, more than 32,000 cases of Legionnaire's disease were reported to the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI) and there were more than 100 European outbreaks a year between 2003 and 2006.
