Eight Milwaukee hospital patients treated for Legionnaire’s disease
CUDAHY, Wis. (AP) – A Milwaukee-area hospital says eight people who have been patients there in the last month have been diagnosed with Legionnaire’s disease.
Adam Beeson is a spokesman for Aurora St. Luke’s South Shore in Cudahy. He tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel none of the cases has been fatal. He says every patient is receiving treatment or has completed treatment.
Legionnaire’s disease is a form of pneumonia caused by waterborne bacteria.
Beeson says hospital officials were working Saturday to notify more than 1,000 former patients about the outbreak.
Beeson says the source of the outbreak hasn’t been identified. He says officials have tested and treated water sources in the hospital, and that the health department has told them the facility is safe.
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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com
Mar 14, 2010 at 1:13 a.m.
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Cryptosporidium and legionella are separate water-borne microbial illnesses. The first is a parasite, the other is a bacterium. Legionella, which mainly spreads when it becomes airborne e.g. via air conditioning, is common in institutionalized settings and has nothing to do with lake water or sewer sanitary issues.
Mar 13, 2010 at 3:36 p.m.
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Interesting.
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