The global legionella testing market is expected to grow at a considerable rate over the forecast period owing to the advancements and automation in the immunodiagnostic market such as the introduction of advanced ELISA antibodies for the prevention of legionnaires diseases in the market. The rapidly rising awareness about legionella based diseases and the increase in demand for advanced immunodiagnostic techniques is a direct consequence of rapidly increasing incidences of mild flu and pneumonia like diseases through legionella bacteria. Since legionella bacteria requires the presence of iron and cysteine to grow, it is traditionally detected by culture on buffered charcoal yeast extract. This process takes 4 to 5 days for detecting the legionella bacteria. The advanced immunological techniques such as polymerase chain reaction and rapid immunological assays are efficient to detect the legionella bacteria in few minutes. These techniques are commonly used to establish the presence of species of Legionella bacteria in the sample. Some of the other drivers for the growth of the global legionella testing market include the entry of new players, new emerging economies such as China and India and increase in the funding for healthcare facilities by the government in many regions. There are about 40 different species of legionella bacteria out of which 18 species are infectious. Among all these species, the legionella pneumophilla bacterium can cause most of the diseases. Many hospitals have started various tests such as legionella urinary antigen test for the initial detection of legionella based diseases. This is the factor expected to further fuel the legionella testing market over the forecast period.
The legionella testing market has been divided on the basis of antibiotics used for the treatment of legionella infections into rifampin, azithromycin, ketolides, quinolones and macrolides. It is expected that Azithromycin drug will grow at the fastest rate throughout the forecast period owing to its efficiency to treat legionella based diseases. Azithromycin drug is mainly used for treating this infection in children and adults. The increasing incidences of legionella based diseases in children and adults is also a factor driving the Azithromycin drug segment in the market. Apart, certain flouroquinolones such as moxifloxacin and levofloxacin are also considered as the most efficient drugs for legionella based diseases. There are several diagnostic tests which are available commercially in the market for initial detection of Legionella bacteria in the body such as sputum or lung tissue test, urine antigen test, chest X-ray and blood test. There are various end users of legionella testing drugs which include hospitals, commercial or private labs, physician offices and public health labs.
Major regions estimated for the legionella testing market are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and RoW. As of 2013, North America dominated the market attributing the largest share in terms of revenue. This large share can be accounted for by the increasing number of patients suffering from legionella based diseases, the presence of large number of market players and government initiatives such as various public health labs across the region. Owing to the new emerging economies such as Germany and U.K. and rising awareness about legionella based diseases in the Europe region, it is expected that this region will show lucrative growth in the global legionella testing market over the forecast period.
The key participants in the legionella testing market include Roche Diagnostics, Beckman Coulter, Bio Rad, Novartis Diagnostics, Life Technology, Becton Dickinson, Abott laboratories, Eiken Chemical, ID Biomedical, Thermo Fischer, Takara Bio, Kreatech, Gen Probe, Enzo Biochem and SeraCare. The market leaders in the global legionella testing market are involved in continuous efforts for the development of innovative methodologies of testing which would increase the efficiency and accuracy of test results while providing the smooth processing of larger samples simultaneously. This companies are also entering into strategic collaborations and expansions to extend their global patient base.
