Legionairre's disease in Indiana hospital

Posted: Apr 4, 2016

This is the hospital I worked in for years. I also was a patient over the years. Sometimes our little hospital has to send people there if they cannot provide the right services (ours a little hospital). Latest on this is that the person got Legionnaire's from the hospital. They were not at all sure of how he acquired it. On the local news, they said no one would say the condition of the man, but that he had been extremely sick. Said the tests won't come back for at least 10 days, but I have to wonder if they came back already. I just cannot fathom why it would take 10 days for something like this illness is. IU Health BMH responds to Legionnaires' case Robin Gibson, rgibson@muncie.gannett.com 8:51 a.m. EDT April 4, 2016 MUNCIE — IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital shut down its water system and spent about eight hours treating it Sunday after discovering a patient with Legionnaires' disease late last week. Since the bacteria is found in water, the hospital has sent water samples for testing, which could take 10-14 days, according to Jeffrey Bird, chief medical officer and vice president for operations. Although the state Board of Health doesn't require the hospital to take any steps until test results are back, the hospital was going ahead with precautions including treating the water system, limiting showers to specified ones equipped with special filters and restricting water use in public restrooms, Bird said on Sunday. Bird noted the hospital doesn't know that the Legionnaires' case came from its water supply, but because of the risk to patients with weakened immune systems, IU Health BMH is taking precautions for its patients and staff and their families. A national expert has been brought in to help with the process. The Legionnella bacteria is common in public water supplies, typically at levels so small as to be undetectable and not a risk to the general public, particularly healthy people, according to officials. "In a hospital it's a big deal," however, Bird said, both because of concerns about patients who would be more susceptible and because the bigger water system in a facility the size of the hospital is a greater risk. Even after the eight-hour-long water treatment process on Sunday, the hospital will continue some water restrictions, and will watch other patients for signs of Legionnaires' disease, the symptoms of which are often similar to pneumonia, flu or other respiratory illnesses. In February 2014, IU Health's University Hospital and Simon Cancer Center had patients drinking bottled water and not bathing or showering with tap water after two patients — both of whom died — tested positive for Legionnaires' disease, The Indianapolis Star reported at the time. An Indy Star article noted about 100 cases of the illness are reported in Indiana each year, but often the source of the infection is never found. IU Health BMH is working closely with the state and Delaware County health departments. Although drinking water does not put one at risk of Legionnaires' disease, Bird said the hospital was providing bottled water for drinking. Water used for dishwashing or sterilizing instruments is already hot enough to kill the bacteria, officials said. Crews were at work around the hospital on Sunday, installing filters on faucets on the floors that house patients with weakened immune systems, and flushing the hospital's water system to rid it of any bacteria in case the hospital had a contaminated water line. Contact planning editor Robin Gibson at 765-213-5855 and follow her on Twitter at @RobinGibsonTSP. ;