Legionnaires' Disease at Kingston Hospital

Fisher‐Hoch, Susan P.; Bartlett, C. L. R.; Harper, Gina; Lach, V.H.; Clark, Sandhya; Jones, B.P.C.; Thomas, J.A.; Grist, N. R.

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(81)92316-3

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow Royal Infirmary was similar in many ways to other nosocomial outbreaks described previously (McDade et al 1977;Bock et al 1978;Thacker et al 1978;Kirby et al 1980;Dondero et al 1980;Fallon, 1980;Fisher-Hoch et al 1981 a). As in other outbreaks, the source of infection was contamination of a cooling tower (Politi et al 1979;Dondero et al 1980;Fisher-Hoch et al 1981 b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow Royal Infirmary: microbiological aspects

Timbury

Donaldson

McCartney

et al. 1986

J. Hyg.

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The bacteriological investigation of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow Royal Infirmary affecting 16 patients is described. Most of the patients had been treated in high-dependency areas on two floors of the hospital supplied by the same two air-conditioned ventilation systems. The source of infection was traced to contamination of a cooling tower from which a plume of spray discharged into the intake vents of the two ventilation systems. Rubber grommets within the cooling tower probably provided a nidus of infection there. The control and management of the outbreak are discussed: a policy of frankness about the course and progress of the investigations was adopted and helped to allay anxiety on the part of both staff and media.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow Royal Infirmary: microbiological aspects

Timbury

Donaldson

McCartney

et al. 1986

J. Hyg.

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“…The inoculated plates were incubated at 37°C in a moist atmosphere and examined daily for up to 10 days before discarding. Presumptive strains of legionella were tested for cysteine dependence before positive identification by immunofluorescence, using rabbit antisera, prepared against L. pneumophila serogroups [1][2][3][4][5][6] (supplied by the Division of Microbiological Reagents antd Quality Control, Colindale, London).…”

Section: Laboratory Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Samples were taken, as shown in Fig. 1 from: (1) the inlet of the STWA supply, (2) the hospital cold-water 'break-tank' (which reduces the mains water pressure in this system), (3) the water softener, (4,5) the cold-water storage tank which feeds the calorifiers.…”

Section: Water Sampling Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, there have been a number of reports implicating hospital hot-and cold-water systems with outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease [1][2][3] in addition to those associated with cooling towers [4,5]. For this reason, most hospitals follow Department of Health advice [6] which recommends circulating hot water should be delivered at the taps not below 50°C to reduce the risk of infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A field study of the survival ofLegionella pneumophilain a hospital hot–water system

Farrell¹,

Barker²,

Miles

et al. 1990

Epidemiol. Infect.

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SUMMARYThe colonization, survival and control of Legionella pneumophila in a hospital hot-water system was examined. The organism was consistently isolated from calorifier drain-water samples at temperatures of 50°C or below, despite previous chlorination of the system. When the temperature of one of two linked calorifiers was raised to 60°C, by closing off the cold-water feed, the legionella count decreased from c. 104 c.f.u./l to an undetectable level. However, 10 min after turning on the cold-water feed which produced a fall in calorifier temperature, the count in the calorifier drain water returned to its original level. Investigations revealed that the cold-water supply was continually feeding the calorifiers with L. pneumophila. Simple modifications in the design of the system were made so that the cold-water feed no longer exceeds 20°C; these measures have considerably reduced the number of L. pneumophila reaching the calorifiers.

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