A little over a month ago, we discussed a legislative attempt by State Representative Stephanie Kifowit from Oswego in regards to a proposed bill which would, “mandate prompt notification in the event of a future outbreak of an infectious disease” at every Illinois state Veterans home. It now appears as though there has been some traction on this proposed bill. As a review, the bill would require the notification within a day of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak within any Illinois veterans’ homes. The more recent news, then, is that the bill was approved by the Illinois State House’s veterans’ affairs…
In today’s post, we will be taking a step back once again to review some basics surrounding Legionnaires’ disease. As such, a fundamental bit of information which may prove useful for future conversations is simply what the treatment for Legionnaires’ disease looks like in a broad way. The answer, in short, is antibiotics since in one way, a big part of treating Legionnaires’ disease is, put simply, treating a bacterial infection. A more specific answer, however, would include us listing some of the more effective antibiotics. As such, some examples include tetracyclines, quinolones, most macrolides, and ketolides. The reason these particular antibiotics are effective…
The subject of using big data to try and model for future outcomes has been a popular one in relations to numerous types of fields. Yet in regards to this post, one application for modeling which seems particularly interesting is in regards to epidemiology and specifically Legionnaires’ disease. Now the primary paper I could find dates back to March of 2011 however it does draw some interesting conclusions. Essentially they attempt to model a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak using symptom-onset data from several specific outbreaks in order to estimate the beginning and end of the release of Legionella. The researchers are…
Over the past few weeks, we have included several articles regarding the Quincy, Illinois Veteran’s Home Legionnaire’s disease outbreak and the state’s attempts to not only find out exactly what happened, but to also take steps to try and ensure this kind of severe outbreak can never happen again. As of yesterday, this process of figuring out next steps took a new decisive turn by having Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration announce its plans to replace the residence halls at Quincy, Illinois veterans’ facility. The plan, which was revealed by the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Erica Jeffries, was initially…
Back in February, it was reported by KFOR that around six employees who worked inside the Robinson Renaissance Building had tested positive for Legionella bacteria. In addition, it was also revealed through lab results that the Legionella bacteria was located within one of the building’s cooling systems. Now new testing has been conducted on the downtown Oklahoma City building, testing which shows the building has been cleared of Legionella bacteria. This was revealed when KFOR was given additional information about the extensive testing which had taken place at the building since back in February when KFOR first received the information.…
Nearly a month ago, we posted about the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas and its recent outbreak incident. Now, as of this past Tuesday, the Brooke Army Medical Center is stating that they have identified the probable source of the Legionella bacteria and even went so far as to confirm for the first time the three patients who had developed Legionnaire’s disease since last August. The Legionella bacteria’s likely source turned out to be a water heater within an abandoned building next to the main hospital. All Brooke Army Medical Center personnel were moved out of the…
Earlier last month, researchers with the National Institutes of Health reported that many hospital plumbing systems are a ‘vast’ reservoir of drug-resistant superbug germs and other bacteria like Legionella. This report came after NIH officials had done checks of the plumbing at the their flagship hospital near Washington, D.C., checks which showed drains could be packed with bacteria and ultimately concluded that this issue is likely present at other hospitals. Now the report also mentioned that the superbugs are not very common anywhere else in the hospitals and as such, they are simply unlikely to be an overall threat to…
Due to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the Island Walk gated community at the West Villages development in North Port last Friday, the Sarasota County Health Department will be testing the pool as well as the spa area of the facilities. The environmental health director for the Sarasota County Health Department Tom Higginbotham said the test kits had arrived on Tuesday and that the water from the hot tub along with both pools would be tested. Mr. Higginbotham also mentioned that the health department’s investigation should take around two days and that while the spa and two pools are the focus of the investigation,…
Numerous topics surrounding Legionella bacteria and Legionnaires’ disease have come up on this site. As an effort to take a step back and examine some of the basics, this post seeks to examine various forms of control and prevention for Legionella bacteria. One effective chemical treatment is chlorine. This is particularly effective for systems with basic marginal issues however for systems with more significant problems, a ‘shock’ chlorination, i.e. when chlorine levels are raised to more than 2 ppm over 24 hours and then brought back down to 0.5 ppm can sometimes prove effective. Hyperchlorination is a somewhat similar process however it…
Last week, CBS Chicago reported that Legionella bacteria had been found at the Comptroller’s Springfield office. The results were confirmed last Tuesday by officials from Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office and also noted that the contaminated water was not in locations of the office which were accessible to employees. This revelations comes to light at a clearly rough time for many of Illinois’ state facilities, which most recently included the news that health officials had confirmed a fourth case of Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home. It is important to keep this story in perspective. After all, Legionella bacteria was found however…