Cases of legionnaires’ disease have topped 100 as the outbreak continues to grow in Melbourne.
A Victorian Department of Health update said there have now been 100 confirmed and 10 suspected cases up to July 26, mostly in adults aged over 40.
Most people who have been infected with the bacteria have needed to go to hospital, and those with severe community acquired pneumonia needed intensive care.
A 90-year-old woman and a man in his 60s have died in hospital since the outbreak started in Melbourne’s west.
All the infected people lived in or had visited the Melbourne metro area, the health department said.
In more hopeful news, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Clare Looker said on Friday that genomic sequencing results had proven what authorities had hoped – that all confirmed legionnaires’ cases were linked to one location, a cooling tower in Laverton North in Melbourne’s west, which they have already treated.
‘I can confirm that those sequences are all very closely related genomically and in fact form one single genomic cluster,’ Dr Looker said.
‘That sequencing has been compared to the genomic sequencing from a number of human specimens that were taken as part of this outbreak to look for links between that specific cooling tower and those cases.
Cases of legionnaires’ disease have topped 100 as the outbreak continues to grow in Melbourne. Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Clare Looker is pictured
‘This means that I can now say with a great deal of confidence that we have identified and have already treated the source of this outbreak.’
Legionnaires’ disease can cause a chest infection with a fever, chills, cough, headache and muscle aches and pains.
Other atypical symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and confusion.
The bacteria that causes the disease are widespread in the environment and are found in natural bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, creeks and hot springs.
They are also found in spas, warm water systems and artificial systems that use water for cooling, heating or industrial processes such as cooling towers, as well as potting mix.
A Victorian Department of Health update said there have now been 100 confirmed and 10 suspected cases up to July 26, mostly in adults aged over 40. Legionella bacteria is pictured
Only a few people who come into contact with the bacteria become infected.
In this outbreak, most cases are arising in people who are normally at greater risk of the infection, with factors such as being aged over 40, being a smoker, having a chronic lung disease or a weakened immune system and other underlying conditions such as chronic heart, liver or kidney disease and diabetes.
But there were also cases in otherwise active and normally healthy adults, the health department said.
The bacteria is not commonly spread person-to-person or from drinking contaminated water.
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