Clinicians and public health practitioners at Johns Hopkins University have identified poverty as a hidden link between COVID-19 and Legionnaires’ disease. After investigating the source of an uptick in Legionnaires’ disease cases, the researchers identified poor housing and socioeconomic disadvantage as common denominators between the patients. Due to low incomes and fewer resources, these communities cannot afford to upgrade their aging water infrastructures and spend on expensive water testing and filtration systems. Not unlike those disproportionately affected by the pandemic, this poverty has led to those living within these communities to be the most susceptible to exposure to Legionella bacteria. These researchers suggest that the federal government has an ethical duty to protect our most vulnerable communities, especially given the devastation COVID-19 has wrought. To read more about how poverty links COVID-19 and Legionnaires’ disease, click here. To read our firm’s white paper on Legionnaires’ disease and COVID-19, click here. For more information on Legionnaires’ disease, check out the National Academies of Sciences Management of Legionella in Water Systems Report here. Contact Jules Zacher for a 100% free consultation today. THE MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE HAVE BEEN PREPARED BY JULES ZACHER, P.C. FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT LEGAL ADVICE OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL COUNSEL.