Legionella shower ban in Reinfeld

Legionella: shower ban in Reinfeld apartments

24/10/2012

In the hot water system of a block of flats in Reinfeld legionella bacteria were detected. For the 100 or so tenants concerned, there will be a shower and bathing ban until further notice. So far, no tenant has been infected with Legionella.

Inadmissible concentration of Legionella in hot water system
After Legionella in the hot water system of three skyscrapers were detected in a statutory inspection, the health authority imposed a showering and bathing ban for about 100 tenants of the residential complex. The permissible concentration of the bacteria was clearly exceeded, informed the head of the health department of the district of Stormarn, Andreas Musiol, on Wednesday. As the „Lübeck news“ reported, the tenants were insecure. So far, however, it had come to no infection with Legionella.

According to Werner Solbach, director of the Lübeck Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, the germs are multiplied in 45 to 60 degrees hot water. If contaminated water is sprayed through shower heads or misting systems of whirlpools, the Legionella can be inhaled with the water mist and cause fever and severe pneumonia. Particularly at risk are the elderly and the chronically ill as well as people with weakened immune systems.

Legionella can cause serious infections
During a veterans meeting the „American Legion“ At the Bellevue-Fort hotel in Philadelphia in 1976, Legionella were first detected. At that time, of the 4,400 delegates, 180 were affected by an infection with the bacteria. 29 veterans died as a result of severe pneumonia. The health authorities realized too late that it was a disease, so that the Legionnaire's disease was able to spread quickly. Meanwhile, legionella occur worldwide.

The bacteria cause the so-called legionellosis. It is an infectious disease that occurs in two forms: the legionnaire's disease, transmitted by droplet infection and life-threatening pneumonia, and the usually harmless Pontiac fever. (Ag)