LAWSUITS FILED IN SARASOTA SPRINGS
A pair of negligence lawsuits were filed this month in connection with an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease last fall in Sarasota Springs, NY, according to news reports.

The son of Alice Johnson, an 86-year-old woman who died after contracting the Legionnaires’ disease while staying at the Wesley Health Care Center, has sued the nursing home, and Susan Gonino is suing the Saratoga Hospital after contracting the disease while in the hospital for surgery.

The outbreak first came to light in October, when three residents and one staff member at Wesley contracted the disease. Eighteen patients were infected, including Johnson and another who died.

Gonino’s case is the only case connected to the hospital.

COOLING TOWERS TO BLAME IN AUSTRALIA?
Cooling towers near the Cranbourne shopping center in Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia, are the likely source of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that infected four people, ranging in age between 45 and 78, authorities in Victoria announced on Friday, May 12. All four required hospitalization.

Several cooling towers had water samples taken, and all were disinfected, but it could be up to 10 days before the results are known.

In April, health officials in the Melbourne Central Business District announced that five people were hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease between the last week of March and the first week of April. Three workplaces and 89 cooling towers in the area were disinfected. The incidents are unrelated.

NO CASES REPORTED IN WATERTOWN, NY
Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, NY, has not experienced any reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease after May 8 testing indicated low levels of the Legionella bacteria in the hospital’s water system, according to news reports.

Remediation was performed, including the replacement of all valves and a daily flushing of the water lines, to eradicate the Legionella bacteria. The system was retested on Monday, May 15, and expedited results are expected soon.