The family of a man killed by legionnaire’s disease in a Queensland hospital has demanded improvements in the way the deadly bacteria is managed.
John Pearson, 60, died after contracting the disease from a shower at Brisbane’s Wesley Hospital in 2013.
Queensland Health said hospitals had ramped up water checks since his death.
But his daughter, Rachel Pearson, has argued a recent scare at the Hervey Bay Hospital in the Wide Bay region was a warning sign more should be done.
You go to hospital to get better – you don’t expect to be able to pick up something so horrific from having a shower at a hospital. Hospitals are meant to be clean and safe environments.
Rachel Pearson
“There shouldn’t be another case,” she said.
“From 2013 they should know it’s a risk – it should be manageable.
“Hospitals should know there are risks and doing what they can to prevent it.”
The Wide Bay Hospital and Health Board said patients at the hospital are not allowed to use the showers or drink tap water as a precaution until tests confirmed the water system is clear.
Before Mr Pearson’s death in 2013, legionella testing was not mandatory in Queensland hospitals.
Queensland Health said public and private health facilities were now required to have water quality plans in place.
However, those plans are not covered by legislation.
It is up to hospital management to assess the risk and decide how often testing is done.
But with the Hervey Bay patient dying and legionella bacteria being discovered in the hospital’s water system, Ms Pearson has decided to speak out, saying she wants legislation to force hospitals have water quality plans.
“You go to hospital to get better – you don’t expect to be able to pick up something so horrific from having a shower at a hospital,” she said.
“Hospitals are meant to be clean and safe environments.”
Sarah Atkinson, from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, has been working with the family since 2013.
“It’s really important that in a hospital, where there are vulnerable patients who are sick and whose immune systems might be compromised, that they’re not exposed to legionella,” Ms Atkinson said.
“It’s a completely preventable disease and we shouldn’t have it in Queensland hospitals.”
The Queensland Government said it was considering the move.
What is legionnaires’ disease?
- A type of pneumonia caused by the legionella bacteria
- It does not spread person-to-person but by breathing contaminated air
- The bacteria is common in the environment and can be found in air-conditioning systems, hot water systems, showers, spa baths and potting mix
- Only a small number of people exposed will develop the infection
- Groups most at risk are smokers over 50 years of age and people with weak immune systems
- Symptoms begin five to six days after breathing bacteria and include fever, headache and muscle aches
- If treatment is provided quickly, patients begin to improve within three to five days
- Without early treatment, disease can progress to severe illness, kidney failure and death
- Disease is named because the organism was first isolated, in 1978, after a group of US ex-servicemen contracted the disease at an American Legion conference
- Worst outbreak in Australian history was in 2001, when 125 contracted the disease from the air-conditioning cooling towers at Melbourne Aquarium and four people died
Source: Queensland Health, Victorian Department of Health