People who have visited the Sydney CBD in the past 10 days are being warned to watch out for symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease after five people were admitted to hospital with related cases of pneumonia.
The five people – two women and three men, ranging in age from their 40s to 70s – visited locations in the CBD including Museum station, York St, Park St and Martin Place in the 10 days before their symptoms appeared.
NSW Health is urging people who have been in the CBD over the past 10 days to be alert to symptoms including fever, chills, a cough and shortness of breath.
Meanwhile, NSW Health and the City of Sydney are reviewing testing and maintenance records of all cooling towers in the CBD, as well as conducting inspections and sampling potential source towers to understand where the bacteria could be.
“People can be exposed to the bacteria if contaminated water particles from the cooling system are emitted into the air and breathed in,” NSW Health said.
“Symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease can develop up to 10 days from the time of exposure to contaminated water particles in the air and include fever, chills, a cough and shortness of breath and may lead to severe chest infections such as pneumonia.”
People who contract the disease are diagnosed by a chest X-ray and a urine test and often require antibiotics.
Serious cases of pneumonia caused by Legionnaires’ disease can be fatal in some cases but it is not contagious and cannot be contracted through drinking water.
NSW Health confirmed the five new cases were discovered following a number of other recent cases elsewhere in Sydney.
“Public health units across NSW follow up every case of Legionnaires’ disease and work closely with local councils in the management of cooling towers,” NSW Health said.
Building owners are also being reminded that they are required to maintain compliant cooling towers, as per the law, and are reminded that routine testing helps find contamination early.