This disease is a severe form of pneumonia which is caused by infection. A bacterium known as legionella is responsible for this. Most of the patients inhaled the bacteria from soil or water. There are high chances of this disease in people with weak immune systems and smokers. This bacterium can also cause Pontiac fever. The disease can be cured with antibiotics but some people still have problems after the treatment. Some of the common symptoms are muscle aches, headache and fever.
Do you know that about 9 out of 10 cases of legionnaires disease are preventable? The cases of this disease are increasing every year. That is why; it is important to have water management plans in place to prevent the bacteria which causes legionella. If you want to reduce the risk of this disease in your facility then you should take the following steps:
Validate the Effectiveness of Your Water Management Plan
Every large building in the United States should have legionella water management programs in place. However, managing such big facility water systems is not easy. Maintaining and renovating water programs in such a big building can cause many hazardous conditions. The only way to see if your water management plan is working fine is to test Legionella pneumophila. Moreover, you need to get samples of the water to determine whether it has the bacteria or not.
Legionella pneumophila
There are many species of legionella bacteria. One of the common species is legionella pneumonia which is the main cause of this disease. 99% of the cases reported in recent years were because of this species. That is why; this test is important by the world health organization.
Culture Test
Many rapid tests can provide faster results. But if you want to get accurate results then do a culture test. Because DFA and PCR are unable to differentiate between the legionella and control bacteria. Sometimes, a bacterium that is already controlled and not a threat anymore can be detected by these tests. Moreover, the LFA test can only detect a single serotype and have negative results.
Make Sure the Results are Accurate
It is important to have a routine test to make sure that the water management plan is effective. But it is also important to make sure the results are accurate. You should respond in time to prevent this disease. To do this, you need accurate data about the location and quantity of the bacteria. The data from the tests is really important to take any decision about the quality of the water.
Choose the Right Laboratory
You should perform these tests in a laboratory which is proficient in this subject. It should have a certificate from the local or federal government. Moreover, you need to make sure that their tests are performed at the highest level of quality. To prevent disease, it is important to have routine tests of the water sample. It should be one of the priority tasks in the water management plan of the building.
