Sonoma County health officials said the case is an isolated incident, without concern for the greater epidemic.
A Sebastopol elderly man died after contracted legionaries’ disease, a serious form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, Sonoma’s county’s county of the county of the county of the county.
County acting health worker Karen Smith said the death was investigated as a “sporadic case”, which means that he is considered an isolated incident, not as an epidemic.
Smith said that his team was in contact with the man who died but gives them time to cry before looking for a more in -depth report of man’s last days. The incubation period for Legionella bacteria can last up to 14 days, she said.
In Sonoma County, there have been three cases of legionaries pneumonia since the beginning of the year, she said, adding that none of them were connected.
Smith said Legionella is a very common environmental bacteria often found in “free water” such as lakes and streams, as well as artificial water tanks such as cooling towers in large buildings, air conditioning systems, swirl baths and water heater.
The prosperous bacteria in lukewarm water that stagnates a little, she said.
“One of the reasons why no wastewater test for Legionella is because you will find it there,” she said. “It is a natural bacteria and the vast majority of people never get Legionella infections.”
The interim director of the city of Sebastopol, Mary Gourley, said that the city does not test the bacteria of Legionella, but maintains “a level of residual chlorine … which is 99% effective against” bacteria.
Smith said there should be a lot of bacteria to cause an infection. But more importantly, she said, people who tend to fall sick from Legionella are older with compromise immune systems.
Legionella spreads when small droplets of water containing the bacteria enter the air and people breathe them. In very rare cases, someone breathes Legionella while drinking water. Generally, people do not disseminate legionaries’ disease to other people.
Symptoms of the disease are similar to other types of pneumonia and include coughing, muscle pain, fever, shortness of breath and headache. One in 10 people who contract legionaries’ disease die from the infection, according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Smith said that more than 75% of people with Legionella are over 60 years old, and many of them have conditions such as cancer that remove the immune system or under drugs that remove the immune system.
Smith refused to discuss the health of Sébastopol’s man, saying only that he was “both older and that he had an immunosuppressive condition”.
The community of Sébastopol is shocked by death, companies and non -profit organizations crying for the death of man on social networks.
Epidemics take place, said Smith, quoting one in the county of Napa which involved several cases in 2022. This epidemic, in downtown Napa, killed a person and hospitalized 16 others. It was linked to a cooling tower in an unrecognized establishment, according to a recent report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention American.
The epidemic occurred from July to August 2022. The report linked some of the cases to a cooling tower, a structure that contains water and a fan used to cool the buildings. A clogged hose that led to the chemical power supply system has embarrassed the controller’s ability to detect water flow, resulting in a low injection or no biocide – or disinfectant – in the tower, depending on the ratio.
Cooling towers have been identified as the probable source of a current epidemic in Harlem, New York, which resulted in 99 cases and four deaths. New York officials identified 12 towers in 10 buildings that have been tested positive for bacteria.
Smith said there was no indication or proof that this infection is linked to a large community water source.
Amie Windsor is the head of the community journalism team with the Democratic press. It can be contacted at friend.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218.
Staff editor Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.
