How To Avoid The Deadly Legionnaire Bug That Can Cause Life-threatening Pneumonia Hiding In Water Stagnant In Your Hotel’s Shower
- Two-thirds of resort hotels have tested positive for Legionnaire
- Hotels and Greece, the Canary Islands and Morocco have been tested for error
- Summer visitors have been asked to turn on taps and showers before using water
- It is feared that the mistake may have been made while the hotels were closed during the Covid crisis
By Pat Hagan for The Mail On Sunday
Published: 22:00, 28 May 2022 | Updated: 11:26 PM, May 28, 2022
Popular resorts could put the British at risk for a serious bacterial infection that can lead to life-threatening pneumonia, according to a number of new studies.
Scientists have found that up to two-thirds of hotels in destinations such as Greece, the Canary Islands and Morocco are at risk of spreading the infection, called legionella or legionnaire’s disease, which hides in stagnant water.
Now, microbiologists are urging holidaymakers to take taps and showers before they come in contact with water, for fear of insects accumulating while the premises were closed during the Covid blockade.
Popular resorts could put the British at risk for a serious bacterial infection that can lead to life-threatening pneumonia, according to a number of new studies.
Tourists are advised to turn on the taps to allow sitting water to escape which may be infected with legionnaire’s disease. Scientists fear that bacteria, which accumulate in stagnant water, multiplied during the long confinement of Covid when many hotels were closed.
It comes months after Lynking Stigwood, 70, of Buckinghamshire, died after contracting the infection while on holiday in the Dominican Republic.
After falling seriously ill with vomiting and diarrhea in September 2019, she was taken to hospital where she developed pneumonia and struggled to breathe and walk.
He developed organic insufficiency and died. Lynn’s husband, Melvyn, 73, arrived home with a letter from the travel company arranging the trip, warning of contaminated water at her hotel. Several guests, the letter explained, had contracted the legionnaire’s illness. Lynn had used the shower before it got bad.
The legionella insect thrives in large buildings, such as hotels and office blocks, where it grows in the water supply, especially in warm climates where heat helps it to reproduce.
Rusty and dirty swimming pools and air conditioning units are common places of pollution, as they can accumulate hot, stagnant water that disperses like air droplets, which are then inhaled.
But bacteria can also hide in showers and faucets that have not been used for a few days. Microbiology experts now warn tourists to take vital steps to protect themselves from the risk of infection. This is especially crucial after the pandemic, as some resorts may have recently opened certain hotel rooms as the travel industry returns to normal.
“Leave it at your hotel or apartment as soon as you get there, in case it hasn’t been used for a few days,” says microbiologist Dr. Tom Makin, an independent advisor on hotels and resorts on legionella control. the. ‘Get out of the bathroom and let it run for five or ten minutes. Then, holding his breath, he goes back to the bathroom and closes the shower before leaving again. Wait 30 minutes before using the bath for the contaminated drops to disperse. If the bathroom has a window, open it and turn on the extractor if there is one.
Health and safety guidelines state that the hot water supply must be kept to a minimum of 50ºC, as the error cannot survive this heat. Similarly, cold water should be below 20 ° C to stop the reproduction of bacteria. Hotels, leisure centers and large buildings must regularly treat the water with chemicals to destroy the legionella colonies. But recent studies suggest that many do not. In a report in the journal Travel Medicine And Infectious Diseases, scientists who tested 204 hotels in the Canary Islands, visited by 600,000 Britons a year, found that 12% had legionella bacteria in the plumbing. air conditioning or swimming pools.
A similar study in Greece found that of 51 hotels, 75% had pollution in their water supply. And in September 2021, tests with water samples from 118 hotels in Morocco revealed that more than half had sufficient levels of legionella to cause disease.
About half of the 300 to 400 Britons who are infected with legionella get it abroad each year. Once the infection is diagnosed, doctors refer to the disease as a legionnaire’s disease.
Although the average mortality rate is one in ten, in those with weakened immune systems, such as patients with rheumatoid arthritis or kidney failure, it can reach 30%.
Outbreaks also occur in the United Kingdom. Summer visitors who come home after the break should repeat the shower routine, says Dr. Makin, in case bacteria has accumulated in the shower head. “Take your shower when you get home, if the house is empty and no one has used it,” he adds. “The same goes for garden hoses.”
A 2017 survey found that almost a third of water samples taken from shower heads and bath pipes on 100 domestic properties in the south of England had traces of legionella.