INDUSTRY NEWS
KEEPING
LEGIONNAIRE’S
DISEASE AT BAY
Legionnaire’s disease sounds like a deadly, exotic illness
contracted by active troops (like the French Foreign Legion) in
hellish, brutal tropical environments, but that’s not the case.
T
he nasty that causes legionnaire’s disease could be lurking in
that provide the three conditions
needed for transmission: heat, stasis
and aerosolisation. In simple English that
means Legionella thrives in warm, standing,
still or stagnant water, and it is transmitted in
the droplets that occur when water is aerosolised. In
other words, infection is the result of an unbroken chain of events.
your building’s water storage system – in almost any part of the
world. So how do you ensure that it isn’t? And how do you plan
for a Legionella-free system if you’re still in the design stages
of your project?
What is legionnaire’s disease?
Legionnaire’s disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by the
bacterium Legionella pneumophila, which occurs quite commonly in natural
watercourses like lakes and streams, but usually in minute concentrations.
Given the right conditions, though, it can multiply rapidly, and spread to
humans when they inhale water in aerosol form – perhaps through a shower,
or from a gently sp