Hospital officials have taken 70 separate samples from various sections of the hospital that use or come into contact with water vapor, the most common method through which the disease-causing bacteria spread. Patients are also being tested, according to the article.
The investigation is being conducted by an independent consultant and is overseen by Public Health-Seattle & KingCounty.
The investigation began after two cases of Legionella infection were reported by patients treated in the UW Medical Center cardiac care units. A 30-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man both contracted Legionnaires’ disease. The male patient died as a result of the infection on Sept. 9.
This is not the first time UW Medical Center has had problems with Legionella: The hospital was fined $54,000 in 2014 for violations that included the detection of low levels of Legionella bacteria in a hospital cooling tower, a structure which helps heat and cool the facility during the year, according to the article.
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