The Legionnaires disease that killed one inmate and sickened another at a prison medical facility in Stockton, Calif., is more widespread than expected, according ABC News.
Tests found the bacteria in the water supply at a prison medical facility in Stockton and at two neighboring youth correctional facilities.
Legionella bacteria grows in water and can spread through vapor. They can cause a relatively mild infection — Pontiac fever — or the more serious Legionnaires disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Legionnaires can occur when contaminated water is inhaled into the lungs. It is especially dangerous for older people and those with underlying health issues, the article said.
Officials had thought it was isolated to one housing unit where the two inmates lived. They restricted water use throughout the medical facility and neighboring juvenile facility, bringing in bottled water.
But they put special filters only on showers in the housing unit where the inmates had been housed in the California Health Care Facility, which treats about 2,670 inmates needing medical care.
Cathryn Jakicic is healthcare industries editor of FacilitiesNet.com. For more information on hospital campuses and other medical facilities, visit Healthcare Facilities Today.
