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Test Your Knowledge of the Conditions Behind the Health News THE CLINIC This Week: Legionnaires' Disease

Posted on: Monday, 14 February 2005, 06:00 CST

A court in Preston, Lancashire, is currently hearing evidence about events leading up to Britain's worst-ever outbreak of legionnaires' disease. Seven people died and a further 172 were left seriously ill in the outbreak in Barrow, Cumbria, in July and August 2002.

QUESTIONS

1 What is legionnaires' disease?

a a gastrointestinal infection b a brain disease c a type of pneumonia or lung infection

2 Why is it called legionnaires' disease?

a the first recorded case was among Roman soldiers in Gaul b there was an outbreak at an American Legion convention c it tends to afflict encampments of infantrymen

3 What are the symptoms of legionnaires' disease?

a muscular aches and pains b severe headache c shortness of breath

4 The bacteria are widely found naturally and do not usually cause infection, but outbreaks can sometimes occur in environments where the number of bacteria increases significantly. Where might this happen?

a in rivers b in malfunctioning air-conditioning systems c in the ice on the top of lakes

ANSWERS

1 c. It causes 2-per cent of pneumonia cases that need hospital treatment.

2 b. The bacterium Legionella pneumophila is named after an outbreak at the American Legion convention in Pennsylvania in 1976.

3 a, b and c. Sufferers might also have a worsening cough and a high temperature. Symptoms typically begin two to 10 days after infection.

In severe cases, other parts of the body, including the kidneys, might be affected. Survival rates are good - 90-per cent - for previously fit, healthy people who contract the disease.

Older people (especially those with chronic lung disease), smokers and those whose immune system is suppressed by other serious diseases face an increased risk.

4 b. According to NHS Direct the bacteria "thrive in warm water and warm, damp places". They can grow "inside layers of slime in pipes and on plants and rocks".

Regulations exist in the UK to ensure water supplies and air- conditioning systems are safe.

Legionnaires' disease is not passed from person to person or from drinking water.

Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)

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