The Victorian Government have released a health alert providing details of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in Melbourne.
The health alert states that the Department of Health and Human Services have recently identified three cases of Legionnaires’ Disease (Legionella pneumophila, serogroup 1) this month, involving individuals who have spent time in the south eastern area of Melbourne’s CBD (including Flinders Street station).
All three people affected required treatment in hospital and had an onset of symptoms within a similar time frame, between February 6 and February 14.
The alert also states that there have been a total of 18 cases of this type of Legionnaires’ Disease reported from across Victoria this year to date. This is an increase from 11 cases reported for the same period last year.
The alert comes one month after changes to NSW cooling tower regulations came into effect. Victoria’s cooling tower legislation and regulations requires that cooling towers are tested for Legionella bacteria every three months, remedial action is required if HCC results are greater than 200,000 CFU/mL, and risk management plans are mandatory.
The alert also states that people over 50, smokers, heavy drinkers, people with chronic medical conditions, and people with an impaired immune system, are most at risk of contracting Legionnaires’ Disease. Symptoms are typically influenza-like, and those who suspect that they may have contracted Legionnaires’ Disease have been urged to be tested, as the Department of Health and Human Services must be notified of any cases.
The alert also states that the Department of Health and Human Services is investigating notified cases of Legionella infection to identify the possible source of the Disease outbreak. A number of cooling towers in the Melbourne CBD have been sampled and disinfected, there have been no positive samples so far and some results are still pending.
The Victorian Government’s health alert, along with links to other resources on Legionnaires’ Disease can be found here.
Image via Pixabay.