Posted on 01/24/2023 9:33:48 AM PST by ConservativeMind
A new study of domestic and hospital drinking water systems found Legionella in 41% of samples—with Flinders University researchers making a key connection between the pathogen's co-existence with a "host" microorganism in all samples tested.
The study found Legionella bacteria "infect the amoeba host and then once inside these hosts are protected from disinfection strategies," says Harriet Whiley.
Researchers tested for Legionella and its likely amoebae hosts in 140 samples of water or biofilm (the slime found on showerheads and end of faucets) to understand how the potentially dangerous bacterium colonizes and proliferates in both domestic and hospital plumbing and poses a threat to human health.
Legionnaires' disease is a severe pneumonia-like infection that can be fatal. Globally the number of Legionnaires' disease cases is increasing, with elderly and immunocompromised people at the highest risk.
L. pneumophilia is the main cause of Legionnaires' disease and is not transmitted from person to person but caused by inhalation or aspiration of contaminated water.
"To our knowledge, this is the first time the amoebae Allovahlkampfia and Stenamoeba have been demonstrated as hosts of L. pneumophila in Australian drinking water," says Flinders University Ph.D. candidate Muhammad Atif Nisar.
"Free-living amoebae are ubiquitous in the environment and cause both opportunistic and non-opportunistic infections in humans." says Mr. Atif Nisar.
Up to 75% of the drinking water or biofilm samples tested positive for free-living amoebae. This included V. vermiformis which was present in 55% of samples and Acanthamoeba was present in 11%.
As well as being hosts for Legionella, Acanthamoeba and V. vermiformis are pathogens that can cause severe eye infections, with contact lens users and immunocompromised individuals at greatest risk.
The water samples were collected from showers and hand basins located in domestic houses and hospitals across New South Wales and South Australia.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I know many filter their drinking water, but unless one has a whole-house water filter, this is a possible problem for any sensitive population.
This also points to keeping our shower heads and faucet ends, clean.
Every disease known to man is already here.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made and have never had a flu shot or a vaccine (except what they did to me in the 50's)
I am not afraid and neither should (collectively) you.
“A new study of domestic and hospital drinking water systems found Legionella in 41% of samples—with Flinders University researchers
making a key connection between the pathogen's co-existence with a "host" microorganism in all samples tested.
The study found Legionella bacteria "infect the amoeba host and then once inside these hosts are protected from disinfection strategies," says Harriet Whiley."
Researchers tested for Legionella and its likely amoebae hosts in 140 samples of water or biofilm (the slime found on showerheads and end of faucets)
to understand how the potentially dangerous bacterium
colonizes and proliferates in both domestic and hospital plumbing and poses a threat to human health.
Legionnaires' disease is a severe pneumonia-like infection that can be fatal.
Globally the number of Legionnaires' disease cases is increasing, with elderly and immunocompromised people at the highest risk.
L. pneumophilia is the main cause of Legionnaires' disease and is not transmitted from person to person
but caused by inhalation or aspiration of contaminated water. "
(My Comment) : All the more reason to take cold showers
rather than inhale steam vapors with Legionella bacteria tranferance due to vapors.
We don’t drink any water that has not been through the Big Berkey. I spray bleach on the shower heads.
I eat legionella in the morning like a bowl of oatmeal!
The standard way to disinfect a contaminated water system of biologicals, including the amoeba in the OP article is super chlorination. This is a free chlorine concentration several times greater than used in potable water. In a nutshell, the system I put together used super chlorination by continuously metering in an industrial strength bleach into the several hundred gpm water stream. Strong, corrosive, dangerous stuff.
Obtaining owner management and department of health approval…. I provided a 2 page technical proposal and 1 page estimated cost to the plant management. My company had an existing general services contract in place so all we needed was a work order. The department of health approved the plan in one day and the owner company immediately issued the go command.
Business wise, I was actually competing against 2 or 3 other engineering-consulting companies. The competitors had gold plated systems with tanks, pumps, utilities, controls, drawings, etc. Very formal, very expensive, yada yada AND very slow, about 6-8 weeks.
My system would be in operation in one week at a fraction of the cost. It was about 1 week of prep time acquiring materials and installing, 10-12 hour day to disinfect the water system then the field crews returned to their normal work.
The field crew leader and I next switched to finding out why the potable water system had supported Legionella. That translates to mapping out the entire piping water piping network and verifying pipe sizes. We used existing plant drawings reduced to 11x17in and traced every single pipe up, down and around and every single tap out of the lines to the point of use. This took us 6 weeks. The drawings were way out of date.
I worked largely by myself for another 4 months. Mainly drawing corrections and several rounds of field double checks plus plant management meetings. At the end, the root cause of the contamination was a non-engineered modification of the original water piping layout. This created a greatly reduced water flow in a piping leg that led to complete chlorine depletion. All the Legionella cases were from water in this dead water leg
Wow!
Legionella has long been known as an opportunistic infection. It is fairly ubiquitous in water and little threat to those with healthy lungs and intact immune systems
For disinfection though, an ultraviolet light (UV) module is used. There are home sized and configured units commercially available.
If I were looking to install a house water treatment system for this purpose, I'd look at two ways to go. A complete package of equipment and service by a specialty company such as Calgon versus buying individual components directly and doing my own service.
No more drinking from the garden hose, right?
Drinking them is fine!
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