CDC Warns of More Instances of Legionnaires' Disease
June 07 2016 - 1:30PM
Dow Jones News
ATLANTA—Instances of Legionnaires' disease—a severe, sometimes
fatal pneumonia—are growing in the U.S., often because hotels
long-term care facilities and hospitals haven't taken enough steps
to ensure their water is clean, according to a report issued
Tuesday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
"Almost all Legionnaires' disease outbreaks are preventable with
improvements in water systems management," CDC Director Tom Frieden
said Tuesday.
The CDC reviewed 27 building outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease
from 2000 to 2014 at hotels and resorts, long-term care facilities,
senior living facilities and hospitals. The CDC investigators found
that workers had not used enough disinfectant, didn't change
filters often enough, or didn't monitor their water pipes and
storage areas properly, leading to the outbreaks.
Showering with infected water was a leading source of
contamination, as well as air-conditioning, hot tubs, and, in one
case, a decorative fountain, according to the report.
Dr. Frieden urged building managers across the country to set
up plans to figure out where the disease might grow and take steps
to reduce it.
Legionnaires' disease is caused by Legionella bacteria that can
grow in unclean water pipes, air-conditioning cooling towers, hot
tubs and anywhere there is dirty, stagnant water. The disease can
be transmitted to humans when people inhale mist of the infected
water.
While most people don't contract the disease if exposed to the
bacteria, older people, smokers and people with compromised immune
systems can become very ill, often requiring hospitalization.
Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, muscle aches, high
fever and headache. In about one in 10 cases, the disease is fatal,
according to the CDC.
In 2014, the rate of reported Legionnaires' disease per 100,000
people was 1.62, up from 0.42 per 100,000 in 2000. Possible causes
for the increase in Legionnaires' disease include the aging of the
population, more people with compromised immune systems and
decaying plumbing in many older buildings, Dr. Frieden said.
In the past year, about 5,000 people were diagnosed with the
disease and more than 20 outbreaks were reported to the CDC.
Outbreaks occur more often in warmer weather.
The CDC warning comes as U.S. health officials focus their
attention on water safety following the discovery that the drinking
water supply of Flint, Mich., was contaminated with harmful amounts
of lead, and revelations that drinking water near current and
former chemical plants in upstate New York, New England and Alabama
are contaminated by a potentially harmful chemical,
perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, once widely used in
manufacturing.
In 2014 and 2015, a Legionnaires' outbreak in Flint and nearby
areas caused 12 deaths and sickened more than 90, according to the
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. About half of the
Flint-area cases were traced to a Flint hospital connected to the
city's lead-tainted water supply. But state officials haven't found
a definitive link between troubled water system and the outbreak, a
state health department spokeswoman said.
Last summer [2015], the worst outbreak of Legionnaires' ever to
hit New York City erupted in the South Bronx, killing 12 people and
sickening more than 120. Investigators traced the source to a
contaminated cooling tower.
Cynthia Whitney, chief of the CDC's respiratory diseases branch,
said Tuesday that hospitals need to be especially careful about the
disease, because patients often are highly vulnerable to
infection.
Disinfecting works well to reduce the bacteria, although more
study is needed to figure out which disinfectants work best, she
said.
"This really is an area that needs more research," Ms. Whitney
said.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 07, 2016 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT)
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