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Volume 23, Number 7—July 2017
CME ACTIVITY - Research

Risk Factors for Legionella longbeachae Legionnaires’ Disease, New Zealand

Emma Kenagy1, Patricia C. Priest1Comments to Author , Claire M. Cameron, Debbie Smith, Pippa Scott, Vicki Cho, Peter Mitchell, and David R. Murdoch
Author affiliations: University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand (E. Kenagy, P. Scott, V. Cho, D.R. Murdoch); Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch (E. Kenagy, D. Smith, P. Mitchell); University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (P. Priest, C.M. Cameron)

Main Article

Table 1

Demographic characteristics of Legionnaires’ disease case-patients and controls, New Zealand, October 1–March 31, 2013–2014 and 2014–2015

Characteristic Case-patients, no. (%) Controls, no. (%)
Age, y
30–39 1 (3) 3 (2)
40–49 4 (13) 8 (5)
50–59 4 (13) 36 (21)
60–69 7 (23) 56 (33)
70–79 10 (32) 49 (28)
>80 5 (16) 20 (12)
Median age
 69
 66
Sex
M 18 (58) 74 (43)
F
 13 (42)
 98 (57)
Ethnicity*
European 30 (97) 156 (91)
Māori 1 (3) 6 (3)
Pacific 0 1 (1)
Other 0 8 (5)
Not specified
 0
 1 (1)
Income
≤$70,000† 19 (61) 83 (48)
>$70,000 6 (19) 53 (31)
Missing
 6 (19)
 36 (21)
Possible occupational exposure‡
Yes 2 (6) 7 (4)
No 28 (90) 165 (96)
Missing 1 (3)

*If Māori and other ethnicities were ticked, the person’s ethnicity was recorded as Māori; if Pacific but not Māori was ticked, the person’s ethnicity was recorded as Pacific.
†$70,000 was approximately the reported New Zealand median household income in 2013 (19).
‡For case-patients: 1 garden center worker and 1 farm manager. For controls: 4 farmers, 1 soil scientist, 1 gardener, and 1 landscaper.

Main Article

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1These authors contributed equally to this article.

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