A pensioner caught potentially deadly Legionnaires’ disease from swimming in a lake. People who take part in open water swimming should be aware that entering lakes with still water can lead to infection with Legionella – bacteria that can cause pneumonia, say doctors.
The 77-year-old patient had swum in a natural lake two weeks before falling ill, according to an article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Over four days of increasing weakness combined with fever, cough, and recurring sudden falls in his home, he went to hospital.
Given his travel activity, doctors suspected legionnaires’ disease after initial standard antibiotic therapy failed to treat his pneumonia. Although considered rare, Legionnaires’ disease is a growing health concern.
Since 2000, the number of people developing this disease has been on the rise. In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that around 10,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease.
Dr. Ashley Bryson, an internal medicine resident at the University of Manitoba, Canada, said: “Legionella infection represents a public health hazard owing to its ability to spread through exposure to natural water bodies and human-made water reservoirs.”
She says legionella infection is an atypical cause of community-acquired pneumonia. Referred to as legionnaires’ disease, it presents with fever, fatigue, respiratory symptoms, and sometimes diarrhoea.
Legionella bacteria thrive in the warm, stagnant water in plumbing systems, air conditioners, public spas, and even lakes and rivers. People over the age of 50, smokers and diabetics are among those at particular risk of catching legionnaires’ disease.
Dr Bryson added: “Clinicians should consider legionnaires’ disease in patients with pneumonia that does not improve despite the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, especially if the pneumonia is severe, occurring in immunocompromised patients or patients with recent travel history, or when only antimicrobials without activity against atypical pathogens have been administered.”