Posted on 10/05/2005 10:19:30 AM PDT by silentknight
Legionnaires' disease likely caused deaths
By KEITH LESLIE
TORONTO (CP) - A mysterious outbreak at a nursing home that claimed 16 lives and stoked international fears about the safety of Canada's largest city was likely caused by legionnaires' disease, a form of pneumonia, public health officials said Thursday.
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End of excerpt from article...
They are guessing it is Legionnaires' disease, but they apparently feel confident it is this. We just have to wait and see what the final results are.
From the sound of the article, if it is Legionnaires disease, it would be confined just to the Nursing home -- so maybe it is wishful thinking on their part...
But they claimed the autopsies of three people showed this...
Do you know if Legionnaires' is a bacteria or a virus?
I am not sure. Sounds like it might be a bacteria and not a virus since they can screen for it with urine samples. I don't think viruses can be detected very easily.
However, their urine tests all proved negative, so I really don't know. (from the article -- that the tests were negative)
But even after the autopsy, they didn't seem 100% sure that this was the culprit.
What is Legionnaires’ disease?Legionnaires’ disease (LEE-juh-nares) is caused by a type of bacteria called Legionella. The bacteria got its name in 1976, when many people who went to a Philadelphia convention of the American Legion suffered from an outbreak of this disease, a type of pneumonia (lung infection). Although this type of bacteria was around before1976, more illness from Legionnaires’ disease is being detected now. This is because we are now looking for this disease whenever a patient has pneumonia.
Each year, between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires' disease in the U.S. However, many infections are not diagnosed or reported, so this number may be higher. More illness is usually found in the summer and early fall, but it can happen any time of year.
Link is:
Hmmm - what little knowledge my brain has stored tells me that bacteria are not usually difficult to culture, so it would seem to dumb ol' me that it woudln't be THAT hard to figure out if it's L.disease or not.
Agreed. I really wonder about this. Should have been known FOR SURE much earlier, and sounds like even now they are not positive it's Legionnaire's.
So, I'm offering a SWAG that it isn't.
Pls ping me to your herb list.
You are quite right. THere is no reason to have faith in the Ontario health care system. They got hit bad by their handling of SARS. All they have learned is that they need to circle the wagons when an outbreak of *anything* occurs. There have been no significant and meaningful changes in the health care management in Canada. It's too politically sensitive.
Will do; although a question has been raised (just checking into FR so I don't know yet if it's been answered) that since, for example the 1918 flu killed those with good immune systems - the young and strong - rather than the elderly, which is the opposite from "regular" flus, perhaps a strong immune system is not what we want.
On the Avian Flu preparedness thread there is quite a bit of herb and essential information posted by me and others. I'll still be putting together immune strengthening herbs, but want to hear what my 'betters' think about it (people who know more about this topic) like Judith Anne.
"I remember listening to Art Bell a few weeks ago, and he had someone on the phone talking about dead birds in Toronto, and didn't know what was causing it. Could it be the Bird Flu??"
It's that red headed, freckle faced kid with a Red Ryder BB gun.
OK. Thanks and FReegards.
Bump
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