This is evident from figures from GGDs and RIVM that data journalist Jasper Bunskoek of the investigative editorial team of RTL Nieuws has analyzed.
There was a peak especially in July, he saw. “That month, 95 people were hospitalized with legionella. Nineteen of them ended up in intensive care and four even died.”
That is a lot compared to previous years and in that July also compared to corona. “To give you an idea: the number of people who ended up in hospital with a legionella infection in July is higher than the number of people who ended up in hospital with corona in the same month.”
Number of people with Legionnaires’ disease per month
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Debilitating illness
“Alarming”, says Esther Huygen about the figures. She is chairman of the Legionnaires’ Disease Foundation, in which fellow sufferers and survivors unite. “This is a debilitating disease that costs lives and changes lives. People who get it often have complaints for a long time.”
This happened to Desiree (41), for example. Last October she became infected. Now, almost a year later, she still has a daily fever.
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How do you get legionella?
The legionella bacteria grows in stagnant water that is between 20 and 50 degrees Celsius. When small droplets of contaminated water are inhaled, the bacteria can cause damage to the lungs.
The droplets can come from showers, Jacuzzis or garden sprinklers, but legionella has also been found in rain puddles. Many buildings with shower or swimming facilities, such as sports halls and swimming pools, were shut down during the corona period due to lockdown measures. That is why Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned this spring about the risk of legionella.
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‘Changing climate culprit’
Because a source of infections is rarely found, it appears to be difficult to explain the increase. According to RIVM legionella expert Petra Brandsema, the corona measures are not the cause of the peak in July. “So far we see no indications that the lockdown and the vacant buildings played a role in this.”
The RIVM suspects that changing weather conditions play an important role in the increase. “We mainly see an increase in the number of patients when it has been quite hot for a while and then it has rained, from those downpours.”
This weather is expected more often in the future. This is a concern for RIVM. “This is not what we want to see, more people getting sick with legionella. We need more research to know what the sources are that are important in spreading in that rainy weather.”
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‘Also think of legionella in case of complaints’
The impact of the disease as a result of a Legionella infection is unknown to many people, says Esther Huygen, chairman of the Legionnaires’ Disease Foundation. “People are not so likely to think about legionella. Awareness is important, especially now that we are dealing with a corona pandemic.”
She hopes that people with flu symptoms will also think of a possible Legionella infection. “Every day you are there earlier can make a big difference in your rehabilitation process. If you wait too long, it may be too late. Due to reports that reach us, we suspect that a number of people with complaints only have a negative corona test. has been tested for legionella. One of them has died. “
For Tino Beentjes (58) from Winkel, the doctors also thought about corona for a long time. Legionella only came into the picture after two negative tests. You can read his story here.
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Accountability
For this study, use was made of the most recent figures collected by the RTL News research team from the 25 GGDs and RIVM.
Up to and including July of this year, they received almost 240 reports about people who contracted pneumonia in the Netherlands as a result of infection with the legionella bacteria. In the years before this was an average of about 170 over the same period.
Few common sources are known and the infections have been spread across the country. Figures for August are not yet complete and have therefore been excluded from the survey.
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