By Cassidy Morrison Senior Health Reporter for Dailymail.Com
20:17 12 March 2024, Updated 20:27 12 March 2024
- Of the 214 outbreaks over five years, 184 were caused by Legionella bacteria.
- Legionella grows in public and private water systems that provide drinking water
- Read more: What is legionella and how dangerous is it?
A lung infection lurking in drinking water has killed dozens of Americans and sent hundreds more to the ER, a new official report warns.
In the year From 2015 to 2020, Legionella bacteria caused 184 outbreaks in the United States, resulting in 786 illnesses, 544 hospitalizations, and 86 deaths.
The CDC also looked at other disease-causing pathogens, including norovirus and Shigella bacteria, bringing the total number of water-related outbreaks to 214.
The new CCC report found that most outbreaks and illnesses — 79 percent and 52 percent — can be traced to public water systems that supply water to homes, office buildings and hospitals.
Outbreaks of Legionella spiked especially after 2015, the report’s authors said, urging public health departments across the country to increase their ability to detect water-related illnesses when they occur.
According to CDC investigators, Legionella-related outbreaks continued to increase in 2015–2020 and were the leading causes of drinking water-related outbreaks, hospitalizations, and deaths reported nationwide.
‘This trend is primarily influenced by the increasing number and magnitude of Legionella-related outbreaks in community and non-community water systems.’
Legionella bacteria is spread when a person inhales aerosols contaminated with it from water towers, air conditioning units, hot and cold water systems, humidifiers, and spas.
The microscopic pathogen can cause Legionnaire’s disease, a fatal form of pneumonia, or Pontiac fever, a less severe disease.
One in 10 people who get sick will die. When the disease is contracted in the hospital, the risk of death is high and at least one in four die.
last year, 71-year-old Barbara Krushwitz He died in Legion after a week at the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield, Massachusetts.
Her husband, Henry, said she went swimming in the pool and hot tub at the resort, but he didn’t.
He said: ‘Her heart had stopped and she couldn’t be revived. And – that’s as much as I can say.’
Early symptoms of Legionnaires’ include fever, loss of appetite, headache, lethargy, muscle aches and diarrhea. The severity can range from a mild cough to fatal pneumonia, and early treatment of the infection with antibiotics is key to survival.
Legionella can colonize and grow on surfaces in aquatic systems in complex microbial communities called biofilms. Once there, the bacteria penetrate the water and enter the air.
Pipelines, especially those related to hot water, such as hot water tanks and distribution pipes, also serve as reservoirs for the reproduction of Legionella bacteria. Then it can contaminate the water in the pipe. Stagnant or low flow areas in pipes encourage the growth of Legionella.
Water treatment plants commonly use disinfectants such as chlorine to clean the drinking water system. Chlorine was listed as the disinfectant used in 79 outbreak reports, while 99 reports did not include the disinfectant or treatment used.
In the new report, CDC officials compiled the reports. Out of 214 outbreaks In 28 states including Legionella, norovirus, Shigella, Campylobacter, E.coli and other unspecified pathogens. A total of 2,140 illnesses, 563 hospitalizations and 88 deaths have been linked to these pathogens.
Of these total outbreaks, 187 concerned pathogens that grew in biofilms and entered the water supply. and Legionella growing in biofilms caused the most 184 outbreaks.
Most disease outbreaks are linked to public water systems that supply most homes and are controlled by city governments.
17 outbreaks are linked to private bodies of water, such as wells that some people use to supply their homes. Most of the infections were reported in Illinois, Florida and Maryland.
The number of Legionella outbreaks fluctuated during the study period.
Researchers did not give any explanation about the peaks and reservoirs.
However, Covid-era lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures have reduced human movement in places like offices, hotels and recreational areas where Legionella is common, reducing the bacteria’s ability to grow and spread. .
Legionella bacteria can multiply significantly in large buildings such as hospitals, for example, water temperature below 50 degrees Celsius, places where water does not flow well and collect, the presence of amoebas and other bacteria, and materials used in pipes.
Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and rehabilitation clinics were the most common sources of exposure, accounting for 113 of the 214 outbreaks.
Although the CDC report stops at 2020, local reports of outbreaks from 2023 to 2024 suggest Legionella bacteria may pose a greater threat to public health today than they did three or four years ago.
For example, northern Minnesota is battling an outbreak that has sickened 15 people and sent 11 to the hospital since last April. No one has died yet.
In the year In 2023, the state total was 134 cases related to Legionnaires’ disease, including 6 deaths.
Also last year in New Jersey, health authorities reported 21 people in Middlesex County and 20 in Union County have been diagnosed with Legionella. The tests were carried out between August 3 and October 24 when symptoms appeared.
The state typically records between 250 and 375 cases of Legionnaires’ disease each year.