Tests have confirmed that potentially lethal Legionella pneumonia bacteria has returned to the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower, the tallest building in Columbus, Ohio, located at 30 East Broad Street. One of the building’s 4,000 state employees, a 56-year-old woman from Fairfield County, remains hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia also referred to as legionellosis.
3 of 31 locations tested in the 41-storey tower proved positive for the bacteria. According to NBC4 News, particularly high levels of Legionella were identified in a men’s locker room shower in the building’s basement, the third time it has been found in this area. The locker room sample tested at 34 colony forming units per milliliter (cfu/ml), well above the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s acceptable limit. OSHA recommends cleaning infected water systems when Legionella levels are above 10 cfu/ml.
Lower levels of Legionella (below 1 cfu/ml) were isolated in a kitchenette on the 40th floor and in a basement utility closet. The men’s locker room is currently sealed prior to remediation.
Last week, Ohio Civil Services Employees Association (OCSEA) filed a grievance against Ohio’s Department of Administrative services for failing to immediately alert workers to the fact that a fellow employee had contracted Legionnaires’ disease. This failure to communicate was particularly disturbing since areas of Rhodes Tower have repeatedly tested positive for Legionella since 2014; in June 2015, its water was turned off after the bacteria was found in 3 of 6 samples.
What to Know About Legionnaires’ Disease if You Work at Rhodes Tower
One of the purposes of OCSEA’s grievance is to locate any other employees who may have missed 3 or more days of work last month with pneumonia- or flu-like symptoms. If you have recently experienced or are currently suffering the symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease – high fever, muscle aches, cough, shortness of breath, headaches, extreme fatigue, or disorientation / hallucination – you should be tested immediately for legionellosis both a) so that you can receive the appropriate treatment, and b) to learn if you contracted the illness at Rhodes Tower.
People who are particularly susceptible to infection include workers who are over 50, who are smokers, or who have underlying medical conditions such as COPD, respiratory problems, or are otherwise immunosuppressed.
