Testing last week revealed that the water system of a hospital in Pittsburgh, PA has been contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Allegheny General Hospital conducted tests for Legionella in their water supply after a cancer patient tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. The patient had been discharged on May 20 for respiratory problems but had been readmitted four days later after a relapse; a urine test revealed that the patient had been infected with Legionella bacteria. Though hospital officials believe that the patient had been exposed to the bacteria outside of the hospital, they tested the hospital’s water supply and discovered Legionella…
The CDC recently released news tools for Legionnaires’ disease investigations. The CDC online toolkit includes: Environmental Investigation Tools, Laboratory Investigation Tools, and a section to request CDC assistance. Example questionnaires, fact sheets, protocols, and educational videos to assist with outbreak investigations are also provided as part of the toolkit. To view this toolkit, please visit the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/legionella/health-depts/inv-tools-cluster/index.html
A resident at The Commons on St. Anthony, a healthcare facility in Auburn, NY, has tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. Testing was conducted at the facility following this finding and low levels of Legionella were detected in the water system. No other residents have tested positive for Legionella, but the facility is following recommendations provided by the health department. Water restrictions were put in place until water tests were shown to be normal. To read more about this story, please click here.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock Treatment of Legionnaires’ disease typically involves a series of antibiotics that seek out and kill the present bacteria in a person’s system. This type of treatment is generally very effective, but as discussed in previous posts on this blog, there is concern about overuse of antibiotics leading to drug-resistant bacteria. However, a new potential treatment method has emerged as a secondary effect of specific cancer drugs. BH3-mimetic drugs target and switch-off BCL-XL proteins inside cells. This helps with cancer treatment because it prevents the cancer cells from surviving apoptosis – programmed cell death. Coincidentally, the BCL-XL protein is…
Garston Lane hospital in Wantage, a town in Oxfordshire, is closing due to plumbing issues. According to the hospital trust, the “old and corroded” pipes present a threat of Legionella bacteria to the public. Wantage residents, however, are fighting to keep it open. The campaign was launched this past Saturday and the petition already has over 1,600 signatures. The hospital is currently set to close in the early summer and has plans to “set aside” funds for repairs. No work will begin until it can be determined how the hospital will be renovated. However, the trust also said in a recent statement…
Governor Rick Snyder called for an investigation of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to look into the way that the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak and water crisis were handled in Flint, Michigan. Spokesman Ari Adler said that up to $800,000 will be spent on research sifting through “large quantities” of emails and documents. No health department personnel are suspended at the moment. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is also hoping that the state will grant his office $1.5 million to investigate the water crisis as well. Much remains unclear about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, but it…
Don Kooy, president of McLaren Hospital, and experts say that they suspect the Flint River as the source of Legionella bacteria that were found in the hospital’s water system over a year ago. Kooy was surprised that, although the bacteria were discovered over a year ago, the health agencies did not inform the public of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Genesee County until just a few weeks ago. Flint residents’ complaints of dirty tap water had been going on for some time, but little information was provided to the public. “It’s a public health issue,” said Kooy. “There were people in…
53 pages of e-mails released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) shows the concern over water quality in Genesee County and the potential of Legionnaires’ disease. The MDHHS was aware of the spike in Legionnaires’ disease cases in Genessee County since at least October 2014. From the e-mails, it appears that the Genesee County Health Department was going to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rather than communicating with the state health department. A February 2015 e-mail from Shannon Johnson of the MDHHS shows the state health department’s frustrations over seven months of trying to…
Portuguese researchers published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 4, 2016 suggesting that they have found a case in which Legionella bacteria were transmitted person-to-person. The case involves a 48-year-old man who works as a maintenance worker at an industrial cooling tower complex. He became infected with Legionella pneumophila in October 2014 and was one of the first cases involved in a cluster of cases in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. The man lived with his 74-year-old mother and when he developed respiratory symptoms including severe cough, she took care of him. Approximately two weeks later, the…
Florida Hospital Orlando’s water system is undergoing remediation after testing positive for Legionella bacteria last week. So far, no patients at the hospital have tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. Hospital officials also said that the hospital’s water is safe to drink. At-risk patients of the hospital are being tested for Legionella and hospital staff have been instructed to take extra measures to prevent vulnerable patients from contracting Legionnaires’ disease. Florida Hospital Orlando’s most recent incident with the pneumonia-causing bacteria occurred in late 2015 when a patient tested positive for Legionella. To read more about this story, please click here.