This past Monday, February 19, a Philadelphia-based global molecular solutions company called Invisible Sentinel Inc. announced its first-in-class Legionella species assay had been verified and adopted by a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ELITE Certified Laboratory called Q Laboratories, Inc. The CDC ELITE, or Environmental Legionella Isolation Techniques Evaluation, is a CDC designation for labs that have shown proficiency with isolating, growing, and identifying Legionella from samples collected in the environment. Traditional screening methods, however, can often take up to two weeks so a development like the one touted by Invisible Sentinel would certainly mark a significant improvement. The new…
About a month ago, we began discussing the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home outbreak. Since then, we have followed legislative attempts as well as the revelation last week that there were in fact 2 new cases found. Now just a week later, it was reported last night that there are, in fact, two additional cases stemming from the Qunicy, Illinois Veterans Home. The Illinois Department of Public Health made this announcement on Tuesday, just hours after the state’s Senate Democrats had held a series of hearings regarding the outbreaks. This fourth patient is apparently in stable condition and the central issue being discussed by Senate…
Over the course of the past month, we have not only covered various sporadic cases and outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease, but have also tried to shine light onto other developments within the field. A seemingly simple question, however, has been on my mind as I continue to go through these stories; is there a vaccine that could prevent individuals from being at risk to Legionnaires’ disease? And if there is not a vaccine, then why not? Well the first question is relatively simple to answer; no, there are currently no vaccines for Legionnaires’ disease. There have certainly been attempts to…
NSF International, a global public health organization that develops standards and tests and certifies products for the water, food, consumer goods and health sciences industries will be hosting the first ever Legionella Conference alongside the National Science Foundation. The conference, specifically entitled the Legionella Conference 2018 – Managing Legionella and Other Pathogens in Building Water Systems, will be occurring from May 9-11, 2018, in Baltimore, Maryland and represents the first time experts with various backgrounds including from academia, medicine, industry, public health and government will come together in order to discuss Legionella along with other related pathogens which can be found in water distribution systems. Specifically, the conference…
On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, a Brooke Army Medical Center staff member was confirmed to have Legionnaires’ disease. This confirmation was made by the Brooke Army Medical Center spokesman Robert Whetstone on Wednesday, February 7, 2018 and in addition to the two previous cases of Legionnaires disease reported last August, makes this incident officially an outbreak according to the Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Guidelines. According to Mr. Whetstone, “the health and safety of our patients and staff is our top priority, and we are working diligently with local and regional public health officials to investigate this matter,”. In addition, Whetstone added that Brooke…
Last Thursday, February 1, 2018, Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European commission, announced changes to the drinking water directive which put additional responsibilities on national governments within the EU. These responsibilities, specifically, would push national governments to provide greater access to drinking fountains as well as prompt additional restaurants to offer free tap water. This is all being done to reduce plastic waste and ultimately improve the health of Europeans yet in order to do this second objective fully, the initiative must also ensure water safety is being elevated as well. This means that this current push will not only raise…
On Monday, January 29, 2018, Spartan Bioscience announced the launch of their Spartan Legionella Detection System. This product would represent the first on-site DNA test for Legionella and furthermore perhaps one of the fastest tests for Legionella as it can detect and quantify the bacteria in approximately 45 minutes. The detection system uses a portable DNA analyzer along with a single-use disposable test cartridge and was recently announced as the winner of the 2018 AHR Expo Innovation Award for Indoor Air Quality, a competition put on by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). If this product…
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…
State Representative Stephanie Kifowit from Oswego proposed legislation on Monday, 1/29/2018, which would, “mandate prompt notification in the event of a future outbreak of an infectious disease” at every Illinois state Veterans home. This bill is clearly being put forward now in response to the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home outbreak, one which resulted in not only numerous infections but indeed several deaths as well. This post would certainly seek to promote most measures which would encourage notification and information in regards to any sporadic individual cases or outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease. Notification after the fact, however, should clearly not be…
Illinois state health officials have been having a difficult couple of weeks as continued questions move ahead over the state’s response to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at Quincy, Illinois’ Veterans Home. Those difficult weeks may be extended by quite a bit more after this week’s testing at the Illinois Capital Building. Late on Monday, 1/22/18, an email by officials announced the preliminary results of testing. The initial testing apparently did not go over well, a move which prompted House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff, Tim Mapes, to send a memo the very next day to prompt everyone at the…