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SUMMARY:EESS talk on "Detection of Legionella by culture methods and qPCR 
 in building water systems: Is there a golden ratio?"
DTSTART:20220524T121500
DTEND:20220524T131500
DTSTAMP:20260919T212616Z
UID:3464d9e09a74c8cf581cd9acc0cd0f4aefa6eae9cb0c1db4e5fa76a2
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Emile Sylvestre\, Postdoctoral fellow\, Department of Micro
 biology\, EAWAG\nAbstract:\nCulture-based and quantitative polymerase chai
 n reaction (qPCR) methods can be used to detect the opportunistic pathogen
  Legionella in water from a variety of engineered systems. qPCR is a more 
 rapid method than culture and can facilitate the implementation of remedia
 l actions to reduce Legionella concentrations. However\, results obtained 
 with culture are typically required to evaluate compliance with regulatory
  action thresholds\, limiting the applications of qPCR. To help interpret 
 qPCR-generated data\, we are conducting a meta-analysis to compare results
  obtained with the two methods (qPCR and culture) in various building wate
 r systems. So far\, we have compiled about 1000 paired Legionella samples 
 from the peer-review literature and Swiss laboratories. We also gathered s
 ystem information (e.g.\, building type\, water system\, sampling strategy
 ) for data interpretation and subgroup analyses. For each study\, we quant
 ify the mean qPCR/culture concentration ratio with descriptive statistics 
 and mixed Poisson models. We then evaluate the pooled mean ratio with an i
 nverse variance heterogeneity (IVhet) meta-analysis model. Preliminary res
 ults show that the between-study heterogeneity is high but mean concentrat
 ions are about ten times higher with qPCR than with culture on average. We
  are currently evaluating whether subgroup analyses can be undertaken to i
 dentify the main factors driving this ratio. This meta-analysis is a criti
 cal first step in developing a better understanding of how we can interpre
 t qPCR-generated data and how current regulatory structures could be adapt
 ed to allow appropriate application of qPCR.\n\nShort biography:\nDr Emile
  Sylvestre is a postdoctoral fellow at EAWAG in the department of Environm
 ental Microbiology. Emile is from Montreal\, Canada\, where he did his bac
 helor and graduate studies in Civil Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal.
  He completed his Ph.D. thesis “Systematic assessment of microbial risks
  associated with hydrometeorological events for drinking water safety mana
 gement” in 2020. As a research associate in the same group\, he then col
 laborated with the Government of Quebec to develop and implement risk-base
 d approaches for the management of Cryptosporidium in drinking water and L
 egionella in cooling towers. At EAWAG\, Emile currently works on the devel
 opment of risk-based monitoring approaches for the evaluation of Legionell
 a in building water systems. He also investigates how to control enteric v
 iruses in decentralized greywater treatment processes.
LOCATION:GC B1 10 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==GC%20B1%2010 https://epfl.zo
 om.us/j/66723503475
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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