Health board pinpoints Dundee legionella outbreak
The number of people who have complained of flu-like symptoms after visiting a Dundee hotel at the centre of a Legionnaire's disease scare has risen to more than 100.
- By Andrew Argo
- Published in the Courier : 31.03.11
- Published online : 31.03.11 @ 07.38am
NHS Tayside has been able to narrow the timeframe for those affected, however, saying that the individuals concerned had all been at the Landmark Hotel on or after March 8.
The health authority had previously been checking on people who had been at the hotel since the beginning of March, but cases in the first week of this month have now been discounted.
One man has been admitted to Ninewells Hospital with Legionnaire's disease since visiting the hotel.
He is in a stable condition and there have been no other confirmed cases.
It has also emerged that a number of the 103 cases could be Pontiac fever, a milder infection than Legionnaire's, but which can be fatal in extreme circumstances.
Both are caused by the legionella bacteria, but Pontiac fever normally affects healthy young people and does not lead to pneumonia.
It requires two blood tests over two or more weeks to establish.
The hotel's leisure suite, which has been linked with the outbreak, remains closed, but the rest of the premises on the western outskirts of the city are open for business.
Retired microbiologist Hugh Pennington, a world-leading expert on the subject, said Pontiac fever posed less of a risk.
"People usually get better spontaneously without needing any treatment. It's just like flu and not as serious as legionnaire's, which affects the lungs and can affect other organs," he said.
"Legionnaire's unfortunately also has an appreciable fatality rate."
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