Many people are not aware that showers are a major source of the legionella bacteria being transmitted to a human. This transmission occurs because of a buildup of the legionella bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, in the showerhead. Once the bacteria is in the showerhead, water containing the bacteria passes through the showerhead holes, thereby aeroslozing the water and allowing for the inhalation of the bacteria into the lungs of the person getting Legionnaires’ disease. One way to prevent the buildup of the bacteria in the showerhead is to replace the showerheads periodically. Another method is to take off the…
The owner of the Hampton Sands Resort has stated there is no reason for signs warning of Legionnaires’ disease at the hotel to remain after recent sampling by a contractor for the presence of the legionella bacteria hired by the hotel have proven negative. The New Hampshire Department of Health has denied this request as of Tuesday and required more sampling for the presence of legionella because additional sampling by the hotel owner which resulted in negative results did not meet the health department’s requirements. The health department stated the samples done by the hotel’s contractor came in portions smaller…
Three important pieces of evidence have been revealed through the media so far about the outbreak at the Sands Resort. The owner did not have a permit for the spa, there was legionella bacteria in numerous places through out the hotel and not just the spa, and numerous people who have been associated with the hotel who have contracted the disease. These facts are important for the following reasons. Permits are issued to make sure the spa holder complies with all regulatory requirements, e.g. the amount of chlorine in the spa. Finding legionella in two different water systems within the…
Jules Zacher has been retained by two persons who contend they have contracted Legionnaires disease at the Sands Resort in Hampton New Hampshire. An Order issued by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services indicates that the bacteria that causes the disease has been found in a hot tub, water heater, outdoor shower hose, and shower heads or sinks. The state Department of health has ordered the Sands Resort to notify all guests of the outbreak and to hire a consultant to remediate. Testing by the CDC indicates the legionella bacteria was found in shower heads or…
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…
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,…
Over the course of this blog, many subjects have been covered however perhaps as a reminder and as a step back, it is prudent to review exactly how individuals contract Legionnaires’ disease. As mentioned before, Legionnaires’ disease is often contracted by breathing in aerosolized water (and in some cases, soil) that has Legionella bacteria. As such, Legionnaires’ disease cannot be given from one individual to another. The Legionella bacteria grows the best in warm temperatures so can often thrive in locations like cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and hot water tanks. The Legionella pneumophila causes around 90% of all Legionnaires’ disease cases and can survive…
In a study released late last year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that cooling towers (CTs) were found to be a leading source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak across the United States. These results were obtained by obtaining aliquots from various water samples collected during routine Legionella testing from approximately 196 cooling towers across eight of the nine continental US climate regions in order to control for regional differences. After examining these 196 samples, Legionella spp were found in 78 of the samples, L. pneomophila were isolated in approximately 53 of the samples, and L. pneumophila serogroup 1…
In August of 2015, 133 Bronx residents contracted Legionnaires’ disease, an outbreak which ultimately resulted in the death of 16 individuals. This incident would be the worst recorded outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York state’s history however now, more than two years later, New York continues to show problems as 2017 posts a record number of cases, including a far larger rate of Legionnaires’ disease than just about every other state per capita. New York once again led the United States for reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease in 2017 with a total of 1,009 cases reported to the CDC. And far from the situation improving, this rate of…
In our previous post, we discussed first steps for institutions to take in order to develop an effective water management plan to reduce the risk of Legionnaires’ disease. And while it is certainly true that Legionnaires’ disease can occur within larger buildings, including older structures with older pipes, there is also the potential to encounter Legionella bacteria and Legionnaires’ disease with outdoor activities, including through gardening. There are a couple of reasons for this. As this site has discussed before, Legionella bacteria often forms in stagnant and standing pools of water, particularly when this water happens to be warm. When…