Peterborough Primary School Closed after Legionella is Found! Updated 17/09/2012

LATEST UPDATE:

School to Re-open:

A primary school in Peterborough, closed at the beginning of September after legionella was found in the water system, is to reopen on Monday.

Bacteria that can cause the potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease were found at Newark Hill School.

Peterborough City Council expect it to reopen after workers carried out chlorination of the system to kill the bacteria.

Tests have been completed to ensure the water system is now safe.

Headteacher Lorraine Mann said: "I am pleased to report that we have been advised it is now safe to open the school on Monday.

"I would like to thank everyone for their patience and assistance during this time."

The Old Report reads:

“A primary school in Peterborough was today (Monday) closed for a week after the venue tested positive for legionella.
 Council chiefs have confirmed that routine monthly testing of the water systems at Newark Hill Primary School in Eastfield Road has generated a positive result for legionella.
 A council spokeswoman said: “A full chlorination has been carried out in the hot water systems and will continue with the cold water systems tomorrow.
 “Chlorination kills the bacteria and makes the systems safe.
 “However, it has been decided to delay the school opening until Monday 10 September 2012 as a precautionary measure pending the receipt of the re-test results, which are due on Friday 7 September.
 “Routine tests are carried out at all schools on a monthly basis. ”
 “There is nothing further we can add at this stage.”

Updates will follow....

Hinchingbrooke Invests £120k to reduce Legionella risk

It was reported that:

When Circle took over management of the hospital in February on a 10-year management franchise, the company’s head of facilities and estates, Mark Cammies, set up a new regime of inspection and testing for the legionella bacterium, which is often found in stored water and can cause pneumonia-like infection when ingested as droplets.

Circle stressed yesterday (Tuesday) that no one had been infected and that the £120,000 was precautionary investment to ensure that clean bill of health continued.

“The previous regime was not thorough enough, so we have put in a programme of much more rigorous testing,” a spokesman said. “As a result, we found a few isolated areas where there are higher than normal levels of the bacteria. The presence of the bacteria is not unusual in NHS hospitals,” she added.

Circle’s investment has already extended to installing filters in shower-heads in wards – a practice that is commonplace in hotels – and the programme includes spending £30,000 on a new chlorination system, £70,000 on the hospital pipework to eliminate areas where water can stand, and putting in a new flushing system in wards where showers are used infrequently.

Legionnaires’ disease is so-called because the bacterium was isolated as the cause of an outbreak of a ‘mystery illness’ at a convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia in 1976. it is believed to have been transmitted through a hotel air-conditioning system.