Infection control is high on the agenda for facility management companies and contractors in the healthcare industry and Legionella within hospital water systems can pose serious threats to patients. Aside from causing expensive problems and inconvenience, Legionella can proliferate rapidly over a wide area if not properly controlled, causing potentially lethal damage to health as it spreads.
The current UK Health and Safety Commission’s Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) L8 provides guidelines for Legionella control, and Purite has become accredited with the Legionella Control Association’s (LCA) qualification on the Control of Legionella in Hot and Cold Water Systems to complement its already broad in-house process knowledge.
The LCA document Control of Legionella in Hot and Cold Water Systems describes Legionnaires’ disease as ‘a potentially fatal form of pneumonia that can affect anybody, but principally affects those who are susceptible because of age, illness, immunosuppression, smoking etc.’
It is caused by Legionella pneumophila and related bacteria. Legionella bacteria can also cause less serious illnesses that are not fatal or permanently debilitating. The collective term used to cover the group of diseases caused by legionella bacteria is Legionellosis.
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