Background: The epidemiological characteristics of community-acquired legionellosis are not well known. We present here legionellosis cases appearing in Barcelona, Spain, districts during 1992-1999.
Patients and method: Questionnaire on socio-demographic, epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic data. 285 community-acquired cases of legionellosis were notified (67% of total). Incidence values increased from 0.03/100,000 in 1992 to 3.14 in 1999. Mostly used diagnostic method since 1996 was the urinary antigen test.
Conclusions: The incidence of legionellosis increased sharply during the studied period. We believe that use of urinary antigen-based diagnosis allows for a better knowledge of community-acquired legionellosis.