New England appears to be an epicenter for Legionnaires’ disease. To many, More specifically, the disease requires a warm environment frequently Another case in point involves a cooling tower in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Perhaps the biggest non-environmental outbreak of the disease in New In summary, then, Legionnaires’ disease is frequently a man-made disease
it might not make sense that an area given to cold weather could produce so many
people contracting the disease. The reality, though, is that Legionnaires’ disease
does not need a warm climate such as Florida to grow. Rather, the disease needs an
environment often made by human negligence.
occurring in a building’s plumbing system. A recent example might include the
state health department’s investigation of a case at the Beth Israel Deaconess
Hospital in Needham, Massachusetts. In that instance, a patient may have
contracted Legionnaires’ resulting from inhaling aerosolized water while
showering or using a faucet at the facility. This is particularly troublesome if the
hospital is found to be the source of the disease because of the stringent federal
prevention requirements the hospital had to follow regarding proper testing of the
water for the presence of the legionella bacteria.
In this instance, five people contracted the disease possibly after being exposed to
aerosolized water coming from the cooling tower. The danger inherent in this case
is shown by people walking in the area within a half mile of the cooling tower who
did not even use the facilities associated with the cooling towers’ owner, i.e. they
were just innocent passersby.
England occurred in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. In that case, 35 people
either contracted the disease or a closely associated disease called Pontiac Fever.
They were sickened because one hotel did not properly maintain its indoor hot tub
and vented the exhaust from the hot tub to the street. Once again, innocent persons,
some of whom were not even guests of the hotel, contracted the disease.
not reliant on the geography where it occurs. If man not nature makes the disease,
then man can eradicate it. It takes careful planning and implementation of the plan
to get rid of this all too preventable disease, often causing death and harm to
innocent people.