March 18, 2008
After a dream vacation at Disney in 2006, Joe Massey
returned home to Virginia and fell ill with pneumonia-like symptoms.
His doctors, baffled by Massey's high fever and nausea, didn't uncover the
cause -- Legionnaires' disease -- until it was too late to save the 38-year-old
nuclear engineer from Hampton.
Even today, more than three decades after it was first diagnosed and just days
after two new cases surfaced at an Orlando-area hotel, Legionnaires' disease
remains a growing and, some say, misunderstood and misdiagnosed illness.
Known for affecting travelers, the disease is caused by a bacterium that
thrives in pools and spas.
In Florida, where the number of cases nearly tripled since 2000 to 155 last
year, including 10 deaths, officials say the health risk is minor considering
the millions of residents of Florida and tourists who visit the state annually.
But Massey's widow and some consumer advocates, government activists and
researchers say Florida, which ranks fourth in the nation in Legionnaires'
cases, should do more to raise awareness of the disease.
"We always talk about patients participating in their health care, and
they can't do that unless they're informed," said Janet Stout, a
microbiologist and professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied
the disease for 25 years.
Dain Weister, a spokesman for the Orange County Health Department, said the
reason officials don't publicize all the cases is because other more serious
health concerns are taking priority and because the big picture --13 sickened
in a county of more than 1 million in 2007, for instance -- suggests low risk.
"It's not an astronomical number," he said. "It's not a sign
we've got a major problem."
Typically, health officials don't seek publicity about the illness unless two
or more cases are potentially linked. That's why health officials held a news
conference Friday after they learned that two tourists who contracted
Legionnaires' had stayed at a Quality Suites near
Universal Studios.
The two tourists were being treated at an unidentified hospital in Pinellas
County, officials said Monday.
Meanwhile, local health officials continued to take samples at the hotel.
Air-quality test results could take several days, but water tests could take
about two weeks. Officials said most of the rooms have been cleaned and
re-opened to the public, but the pool and spa are still off-limits.
The last outbreak in Florida was in early 2006, when three people developed the
disease and one of them -- an 82-year-old woman only identified as an
out-of-state resident -- died after staying at the Seagarden Inn in the
Daytona Beach area. An investigation pointed to an
indoor spa as the likely culprit.
This year a visitor to the same hotel, which is now called The Islander Resort,
developed Legionnaires' in January and recently died, though the cause of death
hasn't been confirmed, health officials said. His daughter said he was from
Wisconsin.
Tim Stockman, a vice president for Ocean Waters, the company that owns and
manages the hotel, said the Volusia health department did tests at The Islander
Resort and found no evidence of the bacteria that cause Legionnaires'.
Stefany Strong, a spokeswoman for the Volusia County Health Department,
confirmed that someone from her agency went to the hotel for an environmental
health assessment, though she didn't have details about what tests were
conducted.
The naturally occurring bacteria infect people who inhale tainted water vapor
or mist, and the state says one of the best ways to prevent the disease is to
keep pools and spas clean.
On a routine basis, health officials test pools and spas to ensure they are
properly chlorinated, though they don't routinely test for Legionnaires'
disease.
The disease was first identified after an outbreak at the Pennsylvania
American Legion convention at the Bellevue-
Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in July 1976, when 29
people died.
Nationally, estimates about the number of Legionnaires' cases varies, with the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention estimating about 8,000 to 18,000 cases "but only a
fraction of these are reported," according to the CDC's Web site.
Researchers at the Special Pathogens Laboratory in Pittsburgh say about 17,000
to 23,000 people are hospitalized annually, and they estimate about 20 percent
die.
The lab, recognized internationally for its study of the disease, thinks its
estimate is low, though. A study by another research group suggests about two
out of 10 Legionnaires' cases are correctly diagnosed. Most are misdiagnosed as
other forms of pneumonia.
Had she known more about the disease, Jane Massey thinks she could have told
the doctors about it, and it may have saved her husband's life.
For Joe Massey's first vacation in a decade, the family spent a week on Disney
property, staying at the Port Orleans Resort and visiting theme parks. Jane
Massey thinks her husband must have caught Legionnaires' during their vacation
because he got sick just days after returning home, which is consistent with
the incubation period for the disease.
Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said no evidence has been found that Joe Massey
picked up the bacteria at a Disney property.
She said the company goes to great lengths to prevent Legionnaires', including
routine maintenance and monitoring of air-conditioning systems, hot-water
heaters and swimming pools.
Massey thinks hotels should go an extra step and post prevention tips.
"I'm sure people staying at the resort would have probably liked to know
my husband got sick," she said. "I'd never heard of anyone getting it
anymore -- or dying from it."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-legion1808mar18,0,627356.story
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