An 82-year-old woman died on Tuesday from a legionella infection at the Vienna General Hospital. ORF Vienna reported this on Thursday, citing information from the AKH. Accordingly, the patient had been in the neurosurgical department with a severe neurological disease for almost three weeks. She contracted pneumonia and succumbed to it after a few days. Initially there was a suspected case, but now the AKH has confirmed the infection.
The AKH confirmed the case on Thursday. “We can safely assume that the Legionella infection led to the fatal outcome,” ORF Vienna quoted Gabriela Kornek, director of the Vienna General Hospital, on Thursday.
AKH: ‘The course of events indicates that it was with us’
However, they are not yet completely sure whether the infection took place in the AKH; the patient had come to the AKH from another hospital in Vienna. “The course of events already indicates that it was our fault,” continued the AKH director.
All necessary measures were immediately taken, water samples were taken and the areas where the patient had washed were closed. “The fixtures and filters were immediately replaced.” The focus was mainly on a bathtub that the woman used.
AKH: No danger to other patients
The AKH director emphasized that the 14-page legionella plan was strictly adhered to. The water sample should now provide an explanation within ten days of how the infection came about. It was emphasized that there was no danger to the other patients: “They are certainly not at risk. We have fully investigated and analyzed this area.”
The bacterium “Legionella pneumophila” is the cause of serious and often fatal pneumonia. Older people or those with weakened immune systems are especially at risk for infections anywhere hot water mixes with air to create foam, for example in hot tubs, saunas and near cooling towers.
Legionella enters the lungs with inhaled water droplets, where they invade a certain type of white blood cells called macrophages. It is actually the job of macrophages to neutralize invaders such as bacteria or viruses, but it is precisely this mechanism that is disabled. Instead, these multiply in the macrophages to form tons of new bacteria, which can then cause a new round of infection.
Source: Krone
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