Another Confirmed Case in Stoke-on-Trent ; Legionnaires' Disease

 Another case of Legionnaires' disease has been confirmed in Stoke-on-Trent following an outbreak in the city thought to be linked to a hot tub.

The Health Protection Agency said the latest case brings the total to 21.

The patient, who is being treated at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, is a man in his 70s.

Two patients being treated for the disease since the spate of illnesses began in the middle of July have died.

An HPA spokeswoman said: "This new case is not unexpected.

"It can take up to two weeks following exposure for people to develop symptoms of Legionnaires' disease and a further few days before they might see their GP."

A spokesman for University Hospital of North Staffordshire said: "Three patients remain in hospital and all are in a stable or improving condition."

It was revealed earlier this month that the probable cause of the outbreak was a hot tub at JTF Warehouse in the city after samples were found to have an unusual strain of legionella bacteria, which matched that of the strain taken from patients with the illness.

Dr Sue Ibbotson, regional director of HPA West Midlands, said the organisation has taken detailed histories from those with Legionnaires' and the majority of confirmed cases visited the warehouse in the two weeks before they fell ill.

The samples from the hot tub at JTF Warehouse in City Road, Fenton, were confirmed by the Health Protection Agency's specialist laboratory in Colindale as being the unusual strain legionella bacteria.

The HSE Drop Standards When Monitoring Legionella

Seem's the old HSE needs to up their game in monitoring the leginella control scene- it has come to light, since the Edinburgh outbreak, that the frequency in which they check that duty holders are taking their responsibilities seriously has declined in recent years. The following report reads:

An investigation launched in the wake of the Edinburgh outbreak of the illness has exposed reductions in the number of Legionella inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Executive.

 

The probe by the publication Environmental Health News found the number of pro-active HSE inspections across the UK fell from 833 in 2009 to 464 in 2011.

The number of Legionella inspections at cooling towers dropped from 237 in 2010 to 134 in 2011. Around 2900 cooling towers are subject to inspections from the HSE.
 

The source of the Edinburgh outbreak is yet to be determined but attention has centred on cooling towers in the city.
 

Professor Hugh Pennington, emminent microbiologist and chair of the public inquiry into Scotland's fatal Wishaw Ecoli outbreak, said: "It is clearly time for a rapid root and branch reform of the regulatory system for Legionella."
 

Lawyers representing victims of the Edinburgh outbreak, in which more than 100 people fell ill and three people died, expressed serious concerns about the findings.
 Clive Garner, of Irwin Mitchell, said there were fears that towers which could pose a serious public risk will not be inspected until it is too late.

Edinburgh Cooling Tower Inspected Once a Decade!

Yet again, Scotland has fallen prey to the bugs of legionella, and inquiries have been made. The findings are crazy - one cooling tower was found to be only checked once every 10 years; apparently, being suspicious of some cooling towers, around the area, being completely ignored isn't a mad idea either. The details are ludicrous in following report:

SCOTLAND’S top virus expert has called for a public inquiry into the recent legionella outbreak which claimed the lives of three men.

Professor Hugh Pennington has warned of more outbreaks after discovering many of the country’s cooling towers are being inspected as infrequently as once every ten years.

“Legionnaires’ disease is one of the nastiest and most lethal of infectious diseases in the UK,” he said. “But it is utterly 
preventable. Something went badly wrong in Edinburgh. A public inquiry is the most 
effective way to establish the facts around what went wrong and to prevent yet more outbreaks.”

More than 100 people contracted the bug, which began in the south-west of Edinburgh in May. Investigations to find the source are ongoing and continue to centre on industrial cooling towers in the area.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already issued notices to some of the businesses that run towers being investigated, calling for them to be 
better maintained and regulated.

There are about 6,000 cooling towers across the UK and the HSE only has responsibility for inspecting about half of them. The rest are checked by local councils.

Latest figures show in 2011 the HSE inspected just 134 cooling towers – compared with 237 the year before.

Prof Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said the towers were being inspected ten times less often than premises which sell food.

“There is a real lack of co-ordination regarding who inspects all of these towers, how often they do so and even where all these towers are,” he said.

“There are genuine fears some towers will be going under the radar and not inspected at all.

“Given all of this, I worry other outbreaks will follow, putting more lives at risk. This risk is real and the bug is not going away.

“Some people who fall victim to Legionnaires’ do have underlying health conditions but it is no good blaming things like smoking and drinking for this.

“The bottom line is that three people died after getting Legionnaires’ in Edinburgh and other areas of the UK.

“People should not be dying from this in this day and age.

“Yes, inquiries are expensive ,but so is the cost of looking after people infected with 
Legionnaires’ in our hospitals. Ultimately, an inquiry would save money and lives.”

Scottish Labour last night backed the inquiry call. The party’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie, said: “Prof Pennington’s intervention is significant and his authoritative voice should be a reason for the Scottish Government to pause and reflect on their decision not to have an independent inquiry.”