We evaluated the contribution of amoebic coculture to the recovery of Legionella from 379 respiratory samples. The sensitivity of axenic culture was 42,1%. The combination of axenic culture with amoebic coculture increased the isolation rate of Legionella to 47,1%. Amoebic coculture was particularly efficient in isolating Legionella from respiratory samples contaminated by oropharyngeal flora. (R.A.)