Legionnaires’ outbreak reported in New York, experts link infection to climate change

The authorities have adopted an “aggressive” approach to the outbreak and health officials have sampled water from nearly 160 building cooling towers to test for the bacteria.

George Yates, a 54-year-old Harlem resident, who was diagnosed with legionnaires’ in an outbreak in 2018 recalled the experience and said, “You’re walking down the street minding your own business, breathing in the air, and the air may be contaminated from a cooling tower you can’t even see.” Yates, who was hospitalised for five days and later recovered said, he was driving for ride-share companies at the time and believes he had a chance encounter with Legionella while simply passing though. He was hospitalized for five days but recovered.

Health experts have also warned against panicking over the outbreak. “The advice I would give to the average resident of New York City – don’t live in fear of this,” said Dr Benjamin Wyler, an emergency medicine physician for Mount Sinai Health System who has studied legionnaires’ disease. Further, he said: “But if you’re developing symptoms like a febrile illness and cough, or malaise, gastrointestinal issues, you should maybe have a lower threshold to seek care.”

Effects of climate change

The impact of climate change is likely to make conditions suitable for Legionella. The bacteria have been detected in reservoirs such as hot tubs, water jet cutters, floor scrubbers and fountains. A study found truckers were prone to legionnaires owing to their propensity to use “non-genuine windshield cleaner in their vehicles”.

“The bacteria don’t care,” Dr René Najera, director of public health at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia told The Guardian. “If they see a warm spot with water they’re going to thrive and multiply.”

“I don’t know if we’re past the point of no return on climate change,” he added, “but certainly, it’s not helping.”

What is Legionnaire disease?

The chances of developing legionnaires’ disease are “extremely, extremely rare” and the severe illness is caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila, a microorganism ubiquitous in warm water environments. Unless inhaled in vapors and mists, the bacterium is harmless.

When infected severely, it can trigger various illness ranging from the relatively mild, including Pontiac fever, to legionnaires’ disease, a multi-system pneumonia which causes cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath. While it does not spread easily and infects less than three people per 100,000, fatal chances are high, once affected. As many as 10% of people diagnosed with legionnaires’ will die.

The name Legionella was derieved from the first group of people epidemiologists found sickened: a group of American Legion veterans who gathered in Philadelphia in 1976.

Later, the bacterium has been the cause of a rising number of outbreaks worldwide – from New York to Melbourne, the Lombardy region of Italy to Lincoln, New Hampshire. Urban conditions such as ageing infrastructure, spotty maintenance and populations with chronic conditions can lead to outbreaks.

Here are the symptoms of the disease

Some of the symptoms of the legionnaires’s disease are:

• Headaches and muscle aches
• Fever
• Coughing and shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Confusion

USA Today reported that those who breathe in water vapor contaminated with the bacteria are prone to infection. The health department said that residents cannot get it through drinking water, cooking or from using AC units, and Legionnaires’ disease is not contagious.

With inputs from The Guardian, USA Today