About a month ago, Transparency Market Research estimated that the global legionella testing market was valued at US$180 million in 2016. In addition, Transparency Market Research also estimated that the testing market would reach around US$398.7 million by 2025. Perhaps one of the biggest factors for future growth moving forward is that the incidence rate is increasing globally, particularly in developing regions. With this higher incidence of infectious diseases comes a steady increase in the demand for diagnostic kits and with it the global legionella testing market is expected to substantially grow. As it stands now, the incidence rate of…
Assessing plumbing systems can sometime feel like a task which you are going to be inherently blind in. After all, regular testing is important however pinpointing the exact location of clusters can often be difficult. Luckily, there appears to be a new model which may help public health authorities assess water quality. According to one of the co-authors and civil and environmental engineering professor Wen-Tso Liu, “(P)revious studies have relied on reproducing the conditions of a stagnant plumbing system within a lab setting,” however for this study, the team was “able to collect samples in a real-life situation.” The team collected…
A preliminary report released yesterday suggests that a substantial upgrade of the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy is the best route for resolving the Legionella issues there. This makeover, however, is estimated to cost as much as $278 million. The report describes a brand new residence with new plumbing and a well to serve as a separate water source. This report by the task forces which the governor had organized says the new facility would not only include Legionnaires’-resistant piping, but could be built to adapt to the changing needs of veterans moving forward. A final report is expected on May 1.…
A Dallas senior living community was required to treat the water in two of their buildings after the country health department detected a case of Legionnaires’ disease. Mr Jeff Getek, Highland Spring Senior Living spokesman, has said that the retirement community was initially notified of the positive Legionnaires’ disease test by the Collin County Department of Health. In addition, Mr. Getek also added that this was an “isolated situation,” with no other residents at the Far North Dallas community having reported symptoms. One of the residential buildings where the resident with Legionnaires lives will have water restriction until the health…
Over the course of the past few weeks, we have covered cooling towers and how they can serve as potential breeding grounds for Legionella bacteria. This appears to be the case in Long Island as a school district there announced that Legionella bacteria was found in the cooling towers at three of their schools. According to the Sachem Central School District at Holbrook’s superintendent, James Nolan, the bacteria was detected in the cooling towers at Seneca, Sequoya and East schools after conducting scheduled testing in order to be in compliance with New York state regulations. Once discovered, the cooling towers…
Rubber ducks are a classic component of the stereotypical bath and have made an impact on numerous individual’s lives. Yet with its constant presence in our bathing rituals and lives, an uncomfortable subject may inadvertently emerge; how clean/safe is this object. According to a study by American and Swiss researchers, toy ducks appear to be a breeding ground for microbes and bacteria like Legionella. In the study, water released from four out of every five ducks found Legionella along with other Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, a fairly disturbing frequency. The study, which was conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science…
Last week, researchers at the Technical University of Munich announced that they had developed a microarray rapid test which can detect Legionella in around 35 minutes. Now there is, in fact, a rapid test for detecting Legionella currently in clinics; urinalysis. But according to the head of the research group and the Chair of Analytical Chemistry and Water Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich PD Dr. Michael Seidel, the urinalysis test “serves only as a first indication and is not suitable for screening the water of technical systems,”. The research is part of the “LegioTyper” project which is funded by the German…
Earlier this week, we wrote about Spartan Bioscience and how the company had partnered with the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to conduct a study examining cooling towers at federal government buildings. The results from the test were a bit negative as it was revealed that around 39% of the cooling towers had tested positive for Legionella bacteria at levels greater than 10 bacteria per milliliter while approximately 8% of the cooling towers tested positive for Legionella levels that were greater than 100 bacteria per milliliter. Now, about a week later from when the initial results were revealed, the PSPC is coming…
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…
About a month ago, we wrote about Spartan Bioscience and their rapid on-site Legionella DNA testing. Last Wednesday, Spartan Bioscience announced their results from a study examining Canadian federal government buildings. This 12-week long study tested 51 different cooling towers across Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto and compared their weekly on-site Legionella DNA testing against the monthly Legionella culture testing that at the moment, tends to be the far more common method for testing. The Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) designed and ultimately performed this study in collaboration with Spartan Bioscience, a notable partnership since PSPC is one of the…