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What is Legionnaires disease?
How do you catch Legionnaires' disease?
Which Legionella bacteria are dangerous?
How do Legionella bacteria get into our water supplies?
When does Legionella bacteria become dangerous?
What are the symptoms of Legionnaires' disease?
Who is MOST at risk of contracting legionnaires disease?
Is Legionnaires' disease fatal?
How is Legionnaires' disease diagnosed?
Is there treatment for Legionnaires' disease?
Can Legionnaires' disease be passed from person to person?
Is there a law which states Legionella testing is mandatory?
Why do some companies say a test for Legionella is always compulsory?
What's a Legionella risk assessment?
Is it difficult to test for legionella in water?
Legionnaires' Disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia which can affect anybody.
You become infected by breathing in water droplets such as an aerosol which contain the legionella bacteria, that's why we carry out legionella testing to find out if the water is contaminated. There are many different families (species) of legionella, only a few of these make us ill.
There are about 50 families (species) of legionella, such as:
The most pathogenic is Legionella pneumophila species. This family (species) has 14 main family members (called serogroups or serotypes) which are simply numbered from 1 14.
It is Legionella pneumophila Serogroup 1 which is responsible for over 90% of the cases of Legionnaires' Disease.
Several of the 'other' species of Legionella can cause fevers but don't develop into pneumonia.
Legionella is a natural bacteria found in ponds, streams, rivers and reservoirs. Then, when we take water from these sources for our mains 'drinking' water, small numbers survive the disinfection process. At these low levels, the bacteria poses no risk.
The bacteria requires a temperature range 20 - 45C in order to multiply. At home or work, if either our cold water gets warm or our hot water is too cool, then the legionella bacteria can quickly proliferate.
Given the right temperature and conditions, legionella bacteria can multiply from 10 cfu's (colony forming units) to 10,000 in just a few days.
When the water is contaminated with these high numbers of Legionella, there is a real risk of people contracting the disease.
The symptoms of Legionnaires' disease can begin any time from two days to two weeks after exposure to the initial infection, most however begin after 6-7 days.
For the first two days, you'll experience just mild headaches and muscle pain. After that the symptoms become more severe and include:
As the bacteria begin to infect your lungs, you may also experience:
The symptoms of Legionnaires' disease are similar to those of the flu and this is the reason it is often not diagnosed.
The risk of infection is based on two factors, the concentration of legionella entering our lungs and the resistance of the individual. 'At Risk' people are those who are immunocompromised either because of illness (e.g., cancer) or medical treatment (e.g., chemotherapy). They are at a much higher risk because they can be infected by relatively low legionella counts. HIV-infected patients, for example, have a 40-fold increased risk; organ transplant recipients have a 200-fold increased risk. Smokers, persons over 65 years of age, and heavy drinkers also have a higher risk as does anyone with lung impairment.
If you are young, fit, diagnosed early and receive treatment, then fatalities are less common.
If you are elderly, already in poor health or suffer from a lung disorder then the risk of fatality rises sharply.
The overall death rate following infection is 12%.
The bacteria can be cultured from blood or sputum samples but this takes many days. Most hospitals instead analyse for antibodies in the blood or perform an antigen test on the patient's urine, these give a legionella test result in 24 hours.
Yes, antibiotics are used to fight the infection. Treatment should be started as soon as Legionnaire's disease is suspected, without waiting for confirmation by laboratory test.
You cannot catch Legionnaires' disease from an infected person.
There is no specific law which states you should carry out legionella testing, however, all building owners have a duty of care to supply good quality water to their tenants, staff, visitors, patients or members of the public.
If you don't look after your water and someone becomes ill, prosecutions would be pursued under the Health and Safety at Work regulations or the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.
Most companies carry out regular legionella testing to confirm that their maintenance regimes are working.
To comply with their legal duties, employers and those with responsibilities for the control of premises must have a Risk Assessment undertaken.
This is sometimes called an L8 Risk Assessment or a Legionella Risk Assessment. Unfortunately some legionella testing companies do say the laboratory tests are compulsory.
The HSE does, however, recommend legionella testing in the following circumstances:
This is a detailed report on the water systems within a building, this risk assessment will:
From this report, those who have responsibility for the building will be able to:
Not at all, AquaCert send you sterile bottles which you simply fill with water. We'll arrange and pay for a courier to pick up the filled bottles and transport them to the laboratory for testing then send you the results as soon as they are available.
We'll advise you on where to take the water samples from and how many legionella tests are required, we'll also interpret the analysis and provide recommendations for any adverse results.
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