Muncie, IN – Things are (mostly) hospital business as usual at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital this week in the wake of the identification of a case of Legionnaires’ disease.
Hospital officials announced last Sunday they had sent water samples for testing after a patient was found to have the water-vapor-borne disease. While awaiting the test results, which take 10 to 14 days, the hospital proceeded to shut off its water Sunday and “hyperchlorinate” its water system, according to Jeffrey Bird, the hospital’s chief medical officer and vice president for operations.
Special filters were added on Sunday to faucets on floors with patients whose weakened immune systems would be more susceptible, and the hospital was continuing to install filters in areas of the hospital as the week progressed, spokesman Neil Gifford said on Tuesday.
“We’re still going to err on the side of caution,” Bird said in a phone interview with The Star Press on Tuesday.
“We have safe showers available for all our patients,” Bird said, adding that showers with the necessary filters attached “just might not be in their rooms.” Showers were cited initially as a particular concern, since the Legionella bacteria are transmitted through inhalation of water vapor.
After Sunday’s shutdown of water systems, sinks are again available for handwashing, including in public restrooms. The hospital is warning members of the public as well as patients and staff not to drink water from the sinks and water fountains, and is providing bottled water instead. Food service areas reportedly are safe, though Bird noted fountain drinks weren’t available as of Tuesday, but bottled drinks were. Clean ice is being brought in until filters are installed on ice machines.
One caller to The Star Press on Tuesday reported considering cancelling a scheduled surgery at IU Health BMH because of concerns about the Legionnaires’ case. Bird said Tuesday afternoon he had heard of only one instance so far of a cancellation in the wake of Sunday’s announcement, with a patient from an outlying hospital choosing not to go to rehab at IU Health BMH – a decision Bird called understandable, though he noted the rehab area was safe.
Legionnaires’ disease, a respiratory illness, is caused by inhaling mist or vapor (small droplets of water in the air) that has been contaminated with Legionella bacteria.
Common sources include water in showers, hot tubs, cooling towers in large air conditioning systems and decorative fountains, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The bacteria, common in small amounts, in public water supplies, generally does not affect healthy people but can cause illness and even death in those with weakened immune systems.
IU Health BMH patients with respiratory illnesses have been screened and no other cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been found, Bird said.
Gifford could not confirm the status of the patient who was diagnosed with the illness last week.
