Amman – Italy’s Gemelli Hospital has been recognized as a model for best practices in Legionella prevention and environmental monitoring, as part of a European Union initiative.
Dr. Maria Luisa Ricci, head of the National Reference Laboratory for Legionella at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), selected the hospital—via Rome’s ASL 1 health authority—as an example of excellence to be shared with a visiting healthcare delegation from Jordan. The exchange took place under the EU's TAIEX program.
Gemelli’s “multimodal” strategy involves a multidisciplinary team of engineers, hygienists, clinicians, and microbiologists. Suspected cases are tested with cutting-edge diagnostics to enable swift treatment, while hospital systems undergo continuous environmental surveillance.
Water systems and air handling units are regularly monitored, and immediate remediation is triggered at the first sign of contamination.
“Our model hinges on integration,” explains Prof. Patrizia Laurenti, Associate Professor of Hygiene at the Università Cattolica and Director of Hospital Hygiene at Gemelli IRCCS.
“Hospital management ensures governance, microbiology provides top-level molecular typing, and clinicians ensure timely diagnosis and life-saving intervention—especially for vulnerable patients, including those at risk due to lifestyle factors such as smoking.”