Legionella Testing Can Prevent Deaths from Healthcare-Associated Legionella Outbreaks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that hospitals and healthcare facilities need a water management plan and should test for Legionella. The CDC announced that most deaths from healthcare-associated Legionella outbreaks might have been prevented if healthcare facilities proactively tested for Legionella. EMLab P&K, a TestAmerica company, has the largest capacity for Legionella testing in the United States and is the leading commercial indoor air quality (IAQ) laboratory in North America.
 
“It’s important that healthcare facilities implement a safe and effective water management plan,” said Dave Gallup, EMLab P&K’s General Manager and Co-Founder. “EMLab P&K can support hospitals and healthcare facilities with Legionella testing as part of their water management plans. We want to help improve the safety and health of our communities.”
 
According to a recent CDC news release, “more effective water management might have prevented most of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks CDC investigated from 2000 through 2014,” and further added “problems identified in these building-associated outbreaks included inadequate disinfectant levels, human error, and equipment breakdowns that led to growth of Legionella bacteria in water systems.”
 
Also denoted was that Legionnaires’ disease is on the rise. In the last year, about 5,000 people were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease and more than 20 outbreaks were reported to CDC. Legionnaires’ disease is a serious type of lung infection (pneumonia) that people can get by breathing in small droplets of water contaminated with Legionella. Most people who get sick need hospital care and make a full recovery—but about 1 in 10 people will die from the infection.
 
“Many of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in the United States over the past 15 years could have been prevented,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D. M.P.H. “Better water system management is the best way to reduce illness and save lives, and today’s report promotes tools to make that happen.”
 
To support these efforts, EMLab P&K is offering a free webinar about Infection Control and Legionella exposure on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. For more information and to register, please visit https://www.emlab.com/s/services/Infection-Control-Environmental-Sampling.html
 
This webinar will discuss risk management and will provide an overview on regulations, methods and strategies for sampling and discuss design and execution of a sampling plan. Upcoming changes in the guidelines for sterile compounding and the evolving standard for prevention of legionellosis associated with building water systems are a few examples that highlight the importance for environmental monitoring to reduce or eliminate infections.
 

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