Ontario, what is known about the disease of legonars among recent outbreaks in NY State
Legonaires’s disease has been in the headlines on both sides of the border in this summer, in which public health authorities have investigated outbreaks in Ontario and in the neighboring New York State.
Outbreak of July 1 in London, ONT., Since declaredThree people died and 70 infected. Source of outbreak Not known yet,
Meanwhile, New York City has a recent outbreak Killed three people And from the end of July, more than five dozen became ill.
Health officers in the city connect the outbreak of the central harlem to cooling towers – water structures and a fan that is used to cool buildings. He said that 11 of these towers initially conducted a positive test for a type of bacteria, which causes Legionirs’ disease but the problem has been overcome.
London, an outbreak of a serious respiratory disease in Onts, an outbreak of legendy, has killed a person and made more than 35 people sick. Health officials do not know from where the outbreak started or where it is spreading.
What is the disease of Legonaires?
Legonaires disease is a respiratory infection Legonela bacteria.
Quick symptoms Include fever, chills and a dry cough.
It can lead to a severe chest infection or pneumonia, with symptoms that may include high fever. Symptoms usually develop after days of exposure to bacteria – and may be fatal.
The name of the disease comes from the outbreak of pneumonia which killed 29 people at an US Army Conference In Philadelphia in 1976,
How does it spread?
Leginella bacteria Live in various sources of water-Natural and man-made.
People can become infected after breathing drops of contaminated water from bacteria. This can occur through breathing in drops, or is released into the air from things such as cooling towers, hot tubs or plumbing systems.
Legonier disease Canada’s Public Health Agency (PHAC) said that one person to another cannot spread.
Cooling towersAn component of industrial air-conditioning equipment can be a good environment for growing bacteria, and these towers can release large amounts of water drops in the air.
Since a cooling tower emit a evaporated air, it may be Conditions To be sent into the air for contaminated water drops with bacteria and spread by air, control experts say.
This is why they are often associated with the outbreak of Legonaires, PHAC said.
Outbreaks occur more often during the period of Hot weatherResearchers have found.
Risk factors to develop Legonaires disease include the age of 40 years of age, smoking, alcohol consumption, chronic lung disease, diabetes, diabetes, immunocomized and recent travel.
Is this a serious disease?
Infection can cause pneumonia, with symptoms that may cause high fever and cold.
Sometimes there may be symptoms of gastrointestinal.
The Chief of Staff of Hamber River Hospital, Toronto and an important care doctor Dr. Zaki Ahmed said, “As long as he comes to the hospital, he already breathes very little,” Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr at Toronto’s Humber River Hospital. Zaki Ahmed said that an important care doctor, who has treated Leijioneers Disease.
“They are some chest pain, they are nausea, vomiting. They may or may not have confusion,” he said.
Because it is a rare disease, it is difficult to estimate mortality, Ahmed said.
How is it treated?
When patients come to the hospital with pneumonia, antibiotics that doctors usually prescribe, usually kill legionela, Dr. Aijac Bogoch said, an infectious pathologist is located outside the Toronto General Hospital of the University Health Network.
But antibiotics will not be enough in some severe cases, he said.
“This is not just an infection, it is also a inflammatory response after the infection,” Bogoch said.
In the most severe cases, many parts of the lungs can be affected by the disease, and some people with infection will need to be treated in the intensive care unit, he said.
What about prevention?
Public services and purchases Canada notes that Legionela bacteria can spread water systems under certain conditions:
- The temperature is between 20 C and 50 C.
- stagnant water.
- There is a lack of hygiene in the system.
Overall, the risk of legonaires having disease is usually quite low, PHAC said.
The federal health agency states, “In your home, you can reduce risks through proper maintenance of all fog-producing equipment, such as shower heads, hot tubs, whirlpool bathtubs and humidifers,” Federal Health Agency suggestions. “Make sure you regularly clean and disinfect these devices according to the manufacturer’s instructions.”
But large buildings often use water as a cooling source, Ahmed of Hamber River said. As they do, the cooling units take the water in the air, which we then breathe, they said.
Public Health Ontario said that Legyonela bacteria are “omnipresent” in the environment and most of the cases in the province are sporadic.
Between 2018 and 2023, PHAC reports an average of 620 Cases that have been confirmed Every year.
What has happened in the previous outbreaks in Canada?
In 2012, Legonaires disease outbreak In Quebec City 14 caused deaths and made around 200 people sick. Health officials confirmed that there was an air-conditioning unit bacteria at the top of an office building in the city of Quebec. Was owned by the building Central des Syndicats du Cubek,
In response, the Quebec government introduced new rules for Operation and maintenance Cooling tower, such as a registry and a certified control plan for each tower.
In new BrunswickPublic health officials also recommended a cooling tower registry and related rules for the outbreak of the stem.
A long -term care house In East End of Toronto Was connected to 23 deaths in 2005.
That outbreak was traced back to water drops from a cooling tower on the roof of the nursing home, City officials said at that time,
