An increase in the number of Legionnaires’ disease (Legionella pneumonia) cases in Florence, Alabama, has the Department of Public Health and the Lauderdale County Health Department looking for a common source. The Florence area has 10 confirmed cases of Legionella pneumonia, and 5 suspected cases.
“It is vitally important in these cases for those sickened and their families to look at credit card receipts, calendars and anything else that could help them provide an accurate record of buildings the patients visited in the 10 days prior to illness,” said Fred Pritzker, a lawyer who helps Legionnaires disease (legionellosis) victims and their families recover money damages from owners of contaminated buildings. “Past outbreaks have been linked to hospitals, hotels, spas, schools, nursing homes and other public buildings, particularly those with pools or hot tubs.”
Fred and his team have won millions for our clients. You can contact Fred and lawyers on his Legionnaires’ disease litigation team for a free consultation here.
People get Legionnaires’ disease when they breathe in mist or water vapor containing Legionella bacteria, which then colonizes in the lungs, causing pneumonia, a severe lung infection. The illness can’t be transmitted from person to person, and most healthy people who breathe in the bacteria do not get sick. But for those that do get sick, it is often fatal. Those at highest risk of contracting the illness are the elderly, smokers, people with chronic lung problems, cancer patients (particularly those on chemotherapy), diabetics, and people with kidney failure.
Areas in buildings susceptible to Legionella contamination are hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, and decorative fountains. Given the large number of patients in the same area, it would seem unlikely that the source is a hotel or motel; however, there was a recent outbreak where a hotel fountain caused the illnesses, and many of those sickened were from the area because they got enough of the bacteria in their lungs to cause pneumonia by just passing by the fountain to visit someone at the hotel.
Even though there is not yet enough evidence to sue a property owner, patients and their families can contact our our Legionnaires’ disease lawyers for a free consultation.