Twenty people in Forsyth County including one patient at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and seven patients at Oak Forest Health and Rehabilitation ave been diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease this year. Health officials have not been able to find the source of contamination. Both facilities get water from the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Water Treatment plant, but it does not arrive contaminated, they say.
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by breathing in Legionella bacteria contained in water mist from showers, faucets, whirlpools, swimming pools, fountains and cooling towers in air conditioning systems. It got its name because it was first discovered when an outbreak of pneumonia struck an American Legion convention in 1976.
It’s likely that shower mist was the source of the seven Oak Forest cases, health officials say. Wake Forest Baptist Cancer Center has installed a silver/copper ionization system and point-of-use filters on sinks and shower heads.
People with weakened immune systems are at heightened risk for Legionnaires. Symptoms include fever, chills, cough, muscle aches, headache, chest pain and fatigue. Prompt treatment is critical.
