A rapid micro-agglutination technique for the detection of antibody to Legionella pneumophila serogroup 5.

A rapid micro-agglutination test (RMAT) for the detection of antibody to Legionella pneumophila serogroup 5 is described. It was found to be both sensitive and specific when compared with the indirect immunofluorescence test. Evaluation of 89 paired sera from patients with respiratory symptoms showed that the incidence of L. pneumophila serogroup 5 respiratory infection in East Anglia is low: only one case was found in this study. The RMAT would be easy to perform as a screening test in a routine serological laboratory.