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Patient with Legionnaires’ disease – Cheltenham General Hospital

18/07/2008

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is working with the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to investigate a case of Legionnaires’ disease in a patient currently being treated at Cheltenham General Hospital.

The patient was readmitted to the hospital’s Hazelton Ward on 15 July following an earlier stay for an unconnected condition. No further details of this case are being released due to patient confidentiality.

Following established procedures, the Foundation Trust, HPA and environmental health officers from Cheltenham Borough Council are carrying out further investigations and tests to find the source of the infection, both at the hospital and the patient’s home.

As a standard precaution, the water system for that part of the hospital was chlorinated and thermally treated last night. Alternative supplies of water and other washing facilities have been made available to existing patients on Hazelton Ward. While water facilities are interrupted, no new patients will be admitted to the ward.

Dr Isabel Oliver, from HPA South West, said: “We’re working closely with the Foundation Trust, local authority, and national HPA legionella specialists to find a source for the infection.

“Samples have been taken from the hospital water facilities for testing in HPA laboratories. In the meantime, precautionary action has been taken while a source is sought.”

Steve Peak, Director of Service Delivery at the Trust, said: “Patient safety is a priority for the Foundation Trust, so we’re looking into this urgently, helped by expert advice. We don’t yet know where the patient contracted the infection from, but as a sensible precaution, we are treating the water supply and closing the ward in question to new admissions.

Dr Oliver added: “People with Legionnaires’ disease may develop pneumonia so it’s important to investigate these cases thoroughly. However, we would like to reassure the public that the disease cannot be spread from person to person.”

Legionnaires’ disease is caused by a bacterium and is acquired through breathing in tiny droplets of water from an infected source. Cases are commonly caused by cooling towers, hot and cold water systems and spa pools, but there are many other sources which have the potential to cause disease.

There are around 500 cases each year in England. Most are single cases with no specific source identified as a cause. Nationally detection rates have been increasing partly due to the availability of new diagnostic tests.

Notes to Editors

  1. 1.   Legionnaires' disease is a form of pneumonia, caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila. The majority of cases are reported as single (isolated) cases, but outbreaks can occur. All ages can be affected, but it mainly affects people over 50 years of age, and generally men more than women. Smokers and the immunocompromised are at a higher risk.

  2. The early symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease include a 'flu-like' illness with muscle aches, tiredness, headaches, dry cough and fever. Sometimes diarrhoea occurs and confusion may develop.

  3. The incubation period ranges from 2 to 10 days, sometimes up to 14 days. In rare cases some people may develop symptoms as late as three weeks after exposure.

  4. Legionella bacteria are widely distributed in the environment. Systems linked to outbreaks have included: cooling towers; evaporative condensers; hot and cold water systems; spa pools; humidifiers in food display cabinets; effluent treatment plants; air scrubbers.

  5. Between 400 and 550 cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported in England and Wales in the last couple of years - however, around one third of these cases were infected outside of England and Wales as a result of travel to another country.

  6. For further inofrmation on Legionnaires’ see the HPA website www.hpa.org.uk
    Go directly to the Legionnaires page
    http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1191942128205?p=1191942128205

  7. Media enquiries to Laurence Knight, Communications Manager, Health Protection Agency South West, on 01453 829 746 and Sarah Aspinall/Ria Morrison, Gloucestershire NHS Foundation Trust communications on 08454 223563.

Trust Headquarters 1 College Lawn Cheltenham GL53 7AG
Tel: 08454 222 222 E-mail