More Legionnaires' Cases At IL Veteran's Home, Chicago Hospital

CHICAGO, IL — The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Christmas Eve confirmed two related cases of Legionnaires’ disease at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) in Chicago. Days earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified IDPH that out-of-state patient who was treated at Northwestern Memorial in November contracted the disease. IDPH said it was able to link that case with another patient who was treated at the hospital in May, calling the cases "healthcare related."

Less than a month ago, IDPH also reported a new case of Legionnaires' disease at the Illinois Veteran's Home in Quincy, where 12 residents died and dozens more became ill in a 2015 outbreak of the disease. Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia called by legionella bacteria. The disease is not typically spread by person-to-person contact, although that can occur in rare cases, and is usually contracted by inhaling the bacteria.

On Nov. 29, IDPH reported that one resident at the veteran's home was diagnosed while being treated at a local hospital, but had since been released and was recovering.

"The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) and Illinois Department of Public Health continue to collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Adams County Health Department to help ensure the safety and well-being of the residents and staff at the home," IDPH said last month.

IDVA completed "an extensive renovation" of the plumbing system at the Quincy veteran's home following the 2015 outbreak.

The nearly $5 million project earned praise from some, but earlier this month, 12 families filed a lawsuit against the state alleging negligence and saying the 2015 outbreak and continued problems at the veteran's home were preventable.

"When's it going to stop?" said Jana Casper, a daughter of World War II veteran Gerald Kuhn, who died in the 2015 outbreak. "How many more people are going to have to die before they can get to the bottom of what's causing it?"

On Dec. 22, the CDC notified the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Thursday evening that 47 of 48 environmental samples taken at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy (IVHQ) tested negative for legionella bacteria. One sample tested positive for the bacteria prior to passing through a showerhead that contains a filter, IDPH said.

"Patients using that shower would be protected from exposure to legionella by the physical barrier of the filter," according to a statement from IDPH.

So far this year, five residents and one employee at the Quincy veteran's home have tested positive for Legionnaires' disease.

In response to the two cases at Northwestern Memorial, IDPH said it is working with the hospital, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the CDC on the following actions:

• Providing guidance on what patients to test and when
• Reviewing all pneumonia cases that occurred on the floors where the two patients stayed
• Discuss flushing protocols on the floors where the two patients stayed
• Discuss expanding use of filters for shower heads and sink on the floors where the two patients stayed
• Reviewing environmental water testing logs and water sampling approaches Legionnaires’ disease is a serious lung infection (pneumonia) that people can get by breathing in small droplets of water containing legionella bacteria

Image: In this Sept. 10, 2015 photo, kitchen workers Andrew Campbell, right, and Mary Ueberlauer, center, wash serving trays by hand in large vats usually used for cooking at the state veterans home in Quincy, Ill. (AP Photo/Alan Scher Zagier)