Warnings Issued After Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak In Inner Sydney
Image: Image via The Public Health Image Library from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
New South Wales Health have issued warnings after a potential outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in inner Sydney, with three Potts Points residents contracting the severe lung infection.
Those who have been in the Potts Point area over the past ten days are being told to monitor for symptoms such as chills, fever, and shortness of breath.
The three people infected are aged between 40 and 70, and are not known to each other. They have all been admitted to hospital.
“Those most at risk are elderly people, people with underlying lung or other serious health conditions, and people who smoke,” said Dr Vicky Sheppeard from South East Sydney Local Health District.
According to the health department, the disease “usually presents as a chest infection with symptoms such as fever, chills, cough, headache, and muscle aches and pains.”
Other symptoms may include confusion, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, while some could develop kidney impairment. In some people, the disease can lead to severe chest infections and pneumonia that may require hospitalisation.
Water coolers possibly contaminated
Legionnaires’ disease is spread when a person breathes in fine droplets of water containing Legionella bacteria, and cannot be spread person to person. Exposure can occur when contaminated water particles from a cooling system are released into the air and inhaled, as was the case of an outbreak in Melbourne last year.
NSW Health environmental officers and the City of Sydney inspected and sampled all cooling towers within 500 metres of the residents’ homes, and have asked local businesses and building managers to disinfect their water cooling systems.
The alert follows a Legionnaires’ outbreak in April of this year in the CBD, which resulted in more than 12 confirmed cases and one death.
Anyone feeling unwell should seek medical advice from their GP or emergency department.
For non-life-threatening health concerns, call the free service Healthdirect on 1800 022 222, available 24 hours a day.
For more information on the management of water-cooling systems, contact your local public health unit online, or call 1300 066 055.
