On Sunday, March 25th, it was reported that a Maine Maritime Academy graduate had won $310,000 in a lawsuit over Legionnaires’ disease which they contracted during their summer internship with LaBorde Marine Management LLC of New Orleans while aboard an offshore vessel in August 2013. The federal judge in the case awarded the graduate $150,000 for lost wages, another $150,000 for pain and suffering, as well as $10,000 for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle concluded that LaBorde Marine Management LLC of New Orleans was negligent in keeping the intern safe from Legionnaires’…
Last week, researchers at the Technical University of Munich announced that they had developed a microarray rapid test which can detect Legionella in around 35 minutes. Now there is, in fact, a rapid test for detecting Legionella currently in clinics; urinalysis. But according to the head of the research group and the Chair of Analytical Chemistry and Water Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich PD Dr. Michael Seidel, the urinalysis test “serves only as a first indication and is not suitable for screening the water of technical systems,”. The research is part of the “LegioTyper” project which is funded by the German…
Earlier this week, we wrote about Spartan Bioscience and how the company had partnered with the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to conduct a study examining cooling towers at federal government buildings. The results from the test were a bit negative as it was revealed that around 39% of the cooling towers had tested positive for Legionella bacteria at levels greater than 10 bacteria per milliliter while approximately 8% of the cooling towers tested positive for Legionella levels that were greater than 100 bacteria per milliliter. Now, about a week later from when the initial results were revealed, the PSPC is coming…
About 2 months ago, this page discussed some methods for reducing the risk of Legionnaires’ disease. That post, while informative, often felt a little wonky and clearly focused heavily upon the monitoring of the water system. While clearly designing an effective water system plan with monitoring is vital, this post intends to examine some more practical prevention methods for Legionella bacteria and the contraction of Legionnaires’ disease that can be incorporated in a water system plan. A good place to start is with the actual temperature of the water. To prevent the development of Legionella bacteria, it is suggested that water…
In another attempt to review some of the basics regarding Legionnaires’ disease and Legionella bacteria, this post will go over the mechanism of how an individual biologically contracts Legionnaires’ disease. To start, Legionella bacteria has to enter the lung, either through the aspiration of water which has been contaminated by Legionella bacteria or the inhalation of aerosolized water or soil which has been contaminated by Legionella bacteria. When in the lung, the Legionella bacteria are eventually consumed by a form of a white blood cell known as macrophages. Once inside of the macrophages within the lung, the Legionella bacteria will multiply which causes the…
About a month ago, we wrote about Spartan Bioscience and their rapid on-site Legionella DNA testing. Last Wednesday, Spartan Bioscience announced their results from a study examining Canadian federal government buildings. This 12-week long study tested 51 different cooling towers across Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto and compared their weekly on-site Legionella DNA testing against the monthly Legionella culture testing that at the moment, tends to be the far more common method for testing. The Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) designed and ultimately performed this study in collaboration with Spartan Bioscience, a notable partnership since PSPC is one of the…
Earlier this week, we posted about Baumholder, a US army base in Germany that had to decontaminate around 20 housing units after finding high levels of Legionella bacteria there. Now, just 35 miles away, officials at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center are ordering the decontamination of the hospital’s water system after finding Legionella bacteria in two separate areas of the facility. According to the hospital’s spokeswoman Stacy Sanning, the inspectors had originally tested there on February 23 however only recently notified the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center a few days ago of the high levels of Legionella bacteria. Though it remains…
For today’s post, we are once again going to take a bit of a step back from the news and examine some of the fundamentals of Legionella bacteria and Legionnaires’ disease. With that in mind, today’s post will be doing a review of the basics regarding how testing for Legionella is done. Traditionally, Legionella is found by a culture on a buffered charcoal yeast extract agar. One very common procedure for detecting Legionella in water is to concentrate the bacteria before inoculating it onto a charcoal yeast extract agar along with some agents like polymixin, GVPC, vancomycin, glycine, and cyclohexamide in order to suppress any…
We recently wrote about the progress of a bill in the Illinois legislature which would promote the prompt notification in the case of an outbreak of an infectious disease like Legionnaires’ disease. There is, however, another push within these legislative efforts to also promote more rigorous Legionella monitoring. In order to keep Legionnaire’s bacteria from spreading, lawmakers are proposing, in addition to the notification requirements we discussed previously, a new water management plan which would require state operated residence facilities to monitor their potable water systems for Legionella. According to Senator Mike Hastings, “(V)eterans at these homes deserve homes that…
At the Baumholder Army Base in Germany, approximately 20 buildings were decontaminated after finding high levels Legionella bacteria. According to the base doctors, no one staying at the base tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. Army officials explained their attempts to decontaminate the buildings last Wednesday and according to the commander of U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz Col. Keith Igyarto, workers are doing everything necessary to protect the health of everyone living in the base. The discovery of these buildings came about when the Army tested 124 buildings within the military base and community for Legionella bacteria this past February in order…