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HEALTH

Source of Italy’s legionella outbreak identified: don’t worry, it’s not the water

The source of the legionella bacteria that sickened hundreds of people in northern Italy has been identified as cooling towers, not tap water.

Published: 18 September 2018 10:03 CEST
Source of Italy's legionella outbreak identified: don't worry, it's not the water
Contaminated water in cooling towers can be dispersed over several kilometres. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

“I assure all citizens that they can continue to use and drink water from the mains in total serenity,” the health councillor for Lombardy, Giulio Gallera, said on Monday.

Tests detected the bacteria, which causes Legionnaires' diseases and other respiratory illnesses, in nine of 14 cooling towers in the province of Brescia, he said.

Six of 12 samples taken from the River Chiese, which runs from Trentino to Brescia and into Lake Idro, also tested positive.

Authorities are expected to order the cooling towers' owners to conduct an urgent clean-up to prevent any further contamination. Prosecutors have opened an investigation to determine culpability for the outbreak, which is believed to have resulted in at least two deaths.

READ ALSO: Legionella bacteria confirmed in pneumonia patients in northern Italy

In total 405 people in Brescia suffered symptoms of pneumonia in recent weeks, with 42 cases confirmed to have been caused by legionella. Most of those affected were elderly and the majority were men.

The bacteria is transmitted by inhaling drops of contaminated water, which can be dispersed over several kilometres if it escapes from large industrial cooling towers.

New cases had already dropped off by last week, authorities said, leading them to believe that the worst of the outbreak is over. 

Italy has the highest number of cases of legionella bacterium infections in Europe, according to the most recent annual report by the European Centre for Disease Control. The number of detected cases is constantly rising across the continent, with better surveillance, population ageing, increased travel and climate change among the contributing factors.

READ ALSO: Cases of West Nile fever in Italy soar


Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP
 

HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Published: 10 May 2023 15:09 CEST
Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

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