Report: Buildings closed by Covid-19 face Legionnaires' disease risk

KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Commercial buildings closed for weeks or even months to curb the Covid-19 pandemic could “fuel” Legionnaires' disease, Reuters reported yesterday.

It has been reported by the news wire that public health experts in some countries are informing landlords “to carefully re-open buildings to prevent outbreaks of the severe, sometimes lethal, form of pneumonia”.

Health officials explained that with the “unprecedented decline in water use” and the absence of chlorinated water in pipes of such buildings, combined with irregular temperature changes, have created environments “ripe for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease”.

Buildings at risk “include schools, gyms, factories, hotels, restaurants and outpatient surgical centres”, said Molly Scanlon, an Arizona-based environmental health scientist heading a coronavirus task force for the American Institute of Architects told Reuters.

“After surviving Covid-19, who wants to open a building and have another set of significant safety issues?

“Our medical system is already under enough stress as it is,” she added.

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

It is reported to be the chief waterborne illness in the United States, with nearly 50,000 people infected between 2000 and 2015, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Legionnaires' disease is caused when the legionella bacteria is disseminated into the air from water sources, such as hot tubs, showerheads, fountains and industrial water cooling systems.

The Reuters report stated that Legionnaires’ disease in the current environment is especially troublesome as patients “tend to display the same symptoms as coronavirus patients, including cough, chills and fever, making misdiagnosis a possibility”.

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