Kindgo
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http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/s...,768994,00.html
Stephen Khan
Sunday August 4, 2002
The Observer
Thousands of people have been exposed to the deadly legionnaires' bacteria that have already claimed the life of one man in Barrow-in-Furness, sparking a worldwide plea for those displaying symptoms to consult a doctor immediately.
The suspect air-conditioning system behind the outbreak has a vent that directed infected steam into a narrow lane in the centre of the Cumbrian town used by hundreds of shoppers every day.
The system was at the council-owned Forum 28 leisure complex. Three other similar units have been checked by health and safety officials, but remain open after confirmation that maintenance records were in order.
However, if samples of legionnella from Forum 28 are found to match the strain that killed the 89-year-old man and has left another five seriously ill, the council could face legal action.
Last night 24 confirmed and 31 suspected cases of legionnaires' disease were being treated at Furness General Hospital in Barrow and the Royal Lancaster Hospital.
Water vapour was seen pouring from the Forum 28 vent into the lane on Thursday afternoon. Within two hours the air-conditioning plant had been shut and the building evacuated, but given that the first person reporting the legionella-like symptoms came forward on 12 July, and that infection could have taken place 10 days earlier, the town centre could have been home to a poisonous vapour cloud for nearly a month.
People fled Barrow in droves yesterday, despite reassurances from health professionals that it was highly unlikely any danger remained.
One who remained to do her Saturday shopping was 70-year-old Teresa Wilson. She said: 'I'm not really the panicking type, but plenty of people have left the town. There is some panic and it will probably get worse, especially among the elderly.'
Legionnaires' disease attacks the respiratory system and hampers kidney function. It is particularly dangerous to old people and those with other illnesses.
With many people leaving the town by boat and others heading abroad or around the UK on holiday, there is concern that victims could be spread over a vast area. Indeed, the first case was reported in Blackburn and hospitals there as well as in Carlisle, Blackpool and Burnley have all been placed on alert.
Professor John Ashton, regional director of public health for the North-West, believes that, while the outbreak was confined to Barrow town centre, people could have moved on after being exposed to the bacteria.
'All the confirmed cases have been in the Barrow town centre area, so this is a localised problem and there is no need for panic,' he said. 'But we do have to consider that people may have left. Many ships come to the town.'
Yesterday two police officers guarded the Forum 28 complex, which houses a theatre and cafe opposite the town hall. Bernard Beckett, development director of Barrow borough council, said it was closed to the public at 4.30pm on Friday.
'Samples from all the relevant plants in town are with the Health and Safety Executive, and we will not know which was to blame for the outbreak until they have been tested,' he said.
It could take up to a week for those test results to be delivered, but only the Forum 28 system has been closed. Beckett said that the plant at the centre of the outbreak was on the roof of the building and that air-conditioning vents were directed only into the passageway outside the building.
'The building was closed and the plant shut as soon as health officials suspected it was a possible source of the disease,' he added.
'Samples have been taken from the water source, but we will not get them back until a week's time.
'Forum 28 will remain closed until we have the results of the samples.'
North-West regional epidemiologist Qutub Syed, an expert on how diseases such as legionnaires' spread, said that, if vapour containing the bacteria had entered the passageway from the Forum 28 vent, it would not spread over a wide area.
'We are talking a matter of yards,' he said. 'Not something that would have spread across the town.'
Legionella is widely found in the environment in stagnant water but causes humans problems when in aerosol form. The bug has been known to travel great distances by wind.
Furness General Hospital is dealing with 51 of the confirmed and suspected cases, but NHS trust chief executive Ian Cumming is confident that there is enough spare capacity to cope: 'The hospital continues to cope well with the number of patients admitted from his outbreak. We continue to have enough beds for all projected admissions as a result of cancelling non-urgent surgery.'
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
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