Two more deaths in infection outbreak
TWO elderly men have died from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that has now claimed three lives.
Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board (NHS GGC) said an 81-year-old and a 65-year-old had died. Both had under-lying health conditions, it added.
Another two cases have been identified, taking the total number to seven. Five of the patients are from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, and the other two are from Lanarkshire.
Last night, in a statement, NHS GGC said: Sadly another two people have now died from Legionnaires disease. One was an 81-year-old male who was one of the five existing confirmed cases and the second was a 65-year-old male admitted to hospital at the weekend suffering from the disease.
This takes the total number of individuals confirmed as having the disease to seven, three of whom have now died.
The total number of individuals confirmed as having the disease is now seven, three of whom have now died
Five of these cases are from the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area and two are from Lanarkshire Health Board area.
A spokeswoman would not confirm whether all three patients had died in the same hospital, but appeared to rule out a connection between the cases.
She added: We dont have a link or a common source between the patients. They havent come from the same street or area, for example.
NHS GGC launched an urgent investigation earlier this month after what it said was a most unusual rise in the number of Legionnaires cases in the area, which it was treating as an outbreak.
Seven people from the Glasgow and Lanarkshire health board areas have now been diagnosed with the disease since mid-April, when an individual from North Lanarkshire fell ill while holidaying in Shetland and was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Last week, it was revealed that five people from Glasgow and Lanarkshire had tested positive for the bacteria, including an elderly man who became the first victim of the disease. A 30-year-old woman was critically ill in hospital after contracting the disease.
NHS GGC lead consultant in public health Dr Syed Ahmed said: Despite our very thorough investigations to date, we have been unable to find a common source for the infections.
We expect a small number of cases within the community every year but this rise, so close together, is most unusual and we feel we must treat these cases as an outbreak.
Together with NHS Lanarkshire, HPS [Health Protection Scotland], environmental health and other colleagues, we are investigating each case to identify a common source.
I would also like to stress that legionella cannot be spread from person to person.
It is a bacteria found in water and can be spread through aerosols produced from water, such as air conditioning and showers.
It cannot be contracted by drinking contaminated water.
Legionnaires disease is spread when water droplets are vaporised.
The public health protection units from both health boards are working together in a joint investigation with HPS, the Health and Safety Executive, environmental health officers and other partner agencies in an attempt to identify the source of the infection.
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