In Schijndel, after a legionella outbreak, someone has died and more than ten people have become ill. Most of them are in hospital.
All infected persons live in Schijndel and are between 60 and 90 years old, the municipality says. The source of the infection has not yet been found. They are looking for that.
The GGD suspects that the source can be found in the open air. The fountains in the center of Schijndel have therefore been turned off. Inhaling the legionella bacteria can happen via small water droplets or particles of garden soil.
According to the GGD, there is no link between the infected persons, except that they live in Schijndel. The GGD conducts research in “obvious sources” such as in cooling towers, car washes and water purification, but also looks at other possible sources of contamination. One of the infected persons has been in a swimming pool, but all the others have not. The GGD therefore calls this place “not the most likely source”.
‘Tip of the iceberg’
According to the GGD, this is the “tip of the iceberg” and new infections are added every day. Research at two care homes where a number of sick people live has yielded nothing.
“We hope that it will decrease as soon as possible, but because it usually takes a week before people are sick, it is possible that even more people who were infected last week get sick,” says infectious disease control doctor Ariene Rietveld of GGD Hart voor Brabant. NOS.
Precautionary actions
Some of the infected people live in institutions of care organization Laverhof, in the center of Schijndel. The organization announces that a legionella infection has been detected in three people.
The test result of one resident of Laverhof is not yet known. The organization says it has taken preventive measures. “We have taken water samples, the shower heads have been fitted with a legionella filter and the pipes are chemically cleaned.” The care organization emphasizes that Laverhof is not the source of infection.
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