Detection of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the drinking water distribution system of a hospital in Hungary

The drinking water distribution system of a hospital was investigated using standard cultivation techniques, taxon-specific PCRs targeting pathogenic bacteria, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, cloning and sequencing. The results obtained verify the higher sensitivity of PCR compared to cultivation for detecting Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Moreover, several other opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, such as Escherichia albertii , Acinetobacter lwoffi and Corynebacterium tuberculostrearicum , were detected, emphasizing that drinking water systems, especially those with stagnant water sections, could be the source of nosocomial infections.