Legionnaires’ Disease Archives

March 4, 2023 zacherlaw 0 Comments

Multiple Cases of Legionnaires’ Disease at a South Carolina Nursing Home

Multiple Cases of Legionnaires’ Disease at a South Carolina Nursing HomeAccording to a news report, the South Carolina Department of Health isinvestigating a nursing home in Fairfield County, South Carolina for multiple casesof Legionnaires’ disease. According to another news report, the same nursinghome had been fined over $16,000.00 and had 3 infection-related deficiencies,prior to the investigation by the South Carolina Department of Health. South Carolina Nursing Home Update: The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Services hastested the well water at the Ridgeway Manor Healthcare Center in Ridgeway,South Carolina, which came back negative, according to a TV news report.…

February 17, 2021 zacherlaw 0 Comments

Legionnaires Disease Outbreak in Australia Prompts Concern Among Health Officials

Seventeen cases of Legionnaires disease have been identified in January in a recent outbreak in Sydney and the Illawarra region of Australia. The Health Director in New South Wales issued a statement where he expressed that while there tends to be a slight uptick in cases around the end of summer, a spike of this size is cause for concern. [1] This outbreak has prompted health officials to issue a warning that air conditioning towers, referred to as cooling towers in the United States, need to be properly maintained. Regulations were introduced in these regions in 2012 that require business…

January 29, 2021 zacherlaw 0 Comments

National Academies of Sciences: Management of Legionella in Water Systems: Chapter 1, Part 2

This post continues the discussion of the National Academies of Sciences management of Legionella in water systems report. Chapter one serves as an introduction that outlines how Legionella spreads, as seen in Part 1. This post focuses on the many possible sources of infection. Legionnaires’ disease has been known to have outbreaks at places where there is both biofilm growth and the potential for aerosolization. Many such areas exist in man-made structures, including components of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems such as cooling towers and humidifiers; indoor plumbing (called premise plumbing) including outlets such as showerheads and faucets; as well as spas…

January 27, 2021 zacherlaw 0 Comments

National Academies of Sciences: Management of Legionella in Water Systems: Chapter 1, Part 1

In the United States, incidence of Legionnaires’ disease increased more than six times from 2000 to 2018. Additionally, this number is commonly known to be under reported. This post continues the discussion of the National Academies of Sciences management of Legionella in water systems report. Chapter one serves as an introduction that outlines how Legionella spreads, and how the country currently handles it. Despite numerous reports of common-source outbreaks in the community, through travel or through hospital exposures, and despite improvements in laboratory tools, the vast majority of Legionella cases remain sporadic. Sporadic cases mean that they are community-acquired cases for which the primary exposure source…

January 11, 2021 zacherlaw 0 Comments

Legionnaires Disease Outbreak in Portland Apartment Complex Continues to Grow

On Tuesday, those who live at the Rosemont Court Apartments in Portland were told they needed to evacuate the building. Furthermore since then, nearly 100 residents of the building have been temporarily moved into motels until the building’s water system and plumbing can be properly cleaned and determined to be safe. As a result, another four people are presumed to have Legionnaires disease based on new symptoms, the county health department said. The first symptoms to appear are usually flu-like (fever, tiredness, muscle aches, and headache). Signs of a serious Legionella lung infection include cough and chest pain. As of Thursday, Multnomah…

January 7, 2021 zacherlaw 0 Comments

Outbreak of Legionnaires Disease in A Portland Apartment Complex

The health department confirmed that experts have linked the outbreak to the apartments water system. People can contract Legionnaires disease when they breathe in very small droplets of water contaminated with the Legionella bacteria. Multnomah County Health Officer Jennifer Vines spoke to the press about this incident. She informed them that the plumbing has since been shut off in the building due to the outbreak. Vines also said the health department is working to find out whether water supplied to other nearby properties is also affected. As a result, the county is working to clean the building’s plumbing system and remove any remaining…

December 30, 2020 jzacher 0 Comments

Centers For Disease Control (CDC) Publishes New Study Regarding The Burden of Waterborne Diseases In The United States (Part 2)

Continued from the last post, this post will explore the results of the CDC study and estimate the actual burden of these waterborne diseases. There were 6,630 deaths attributed to waterborne diseases. Legionnaires disease had the second highest number of deaths of the 17 waterborne illnesses studied. Legionnaires disease also had the second highest cost per hospital stay of all the illnesses at approximately $37,200. The 17 waterborne diseases incurred $3.33 billion in total hospitalization and emergency department costs. This amount included $1.33 billion in commercial insurer payments, $1.52 billion in Medicare payments, and $284 million in Medicaid payments. 7,150,000 illnesses attributed to waterborne…

December 30, 2020 jzacher 0 Comments

Centers For Disease Control (CDC) Publishes New Study Regarding The Burden of Waterborne Diseases In The United States (Part 1)

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recently published a new study estimating the burden and direct healthcare costs of infectious waterborne diseases in the United States. They chose to study waterborne diseases that were likely to causes substantial illness or death, and this includes Legionnaires disease. The goal of this study is to help direct preventative action moving forward and set public health goals. New information from the CDC estimates total illnesses, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, deaths, and direct healthcare costs for 17 waterborne infectious diseases, Legionnaires diseases included. The CDC determined about 7.15 million waterborne illnesses occur annually. …

December 22, 2020 jzacher 0 Comments

The Economic Burden of Legionnaires Disease Over $835 Million for Just One Year

In the United States since 2000, reported cases of Legionnaires disease have been steadily increasing. The CDC estimates that there are approximately 5,000 cases and 20 outbreaks of Legionnaires disease reported annually in the United States. [1] The majority of these cases are preventable, as they occur when buildings and facilities fail to properly maintain their water systems. Researchers estimate the economic burden of Legionnaires disease cases in just one year tops over $800 million. In 2014, the exact figure of the economic burden of Legionnaires disease was approximately $835 million. This estimate includes medical expenses, and the productivity losses cause…