Legionella in hospital water lines raises concern

HALIFAX — An upgraded chemical-treatment system has been put in place at Halifax hospitals to reduce levels of the bacteria that causes legionnaires' disease.

The presence of legionella in water at the Victoria General site has been recognized since the 1980s, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Health Authority said Tuesday.

“Legionella is contracted by inhaling water vapour carrying the bacteria or aspirating affected water into the lungs,” said Carla Adams in an email. “Patients who are immunocompromised are vulnerable to infection.”

Legionnaires' disease is a pneumonia named after a deadly 1976 outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia.

In a recent letter to SaltWire Network, Bill McKibbon of Sambro Head said he was surprised to hear the bacteria was present in Halifax hospitals. He became aware of the issue through a friend who is a cancer patient in Halifax.

He declined an interview but in his letter he said “I would think that, if this rumour is true, that it would have very serious implications for patients and staff, especially those with compromised immune systems (such as cancer patients).”

According to Health Canada, it's not a common disease and the risk of getting it is generally quite low.

Healthy people usually recover from the infection but they often require hospitalization and antibiotics, according to a Reuters article in April.

About one in 10 people with legionnaires' dies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. But among people who get it during a hospital stay, one in four do not survive.

At the Victoria General site, a compound of chlorine and ammonia called chloramine is used to disinfect the water against legionnaires' disease. The system was upgraded in April to include automated dosing of the chemicals, Adams said.

The health authority also has put in place a sterile water policy to reduce the risk of patients getting legionnaires' disease.

That policy includes:

• education for every patient entering affected units (verbal and written) as well as for families

• no showering allowed

• nurses draw baths and allow patients into the bathroom once water is finished running/spray has settled

• depending on a patient's level of immune compromise and medications, bottled water is used for drinking, brushing teeth, ice cubes and so on.

The most recent outbreak of the disease in Nova Scotia was in 2015, when five residents of Alderney Manor in Dartmouth were infected. One resident died.