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How To Control Legionella: Methods Of Prevention And Control

11th November, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

The perils of Legionnaires Disease, & its main cause agent Legionella pneumophila, lay not only in the bacteria alone, but also in the lack of education, awareness & prevention of this super popular danger. It is hard to control legionella that is hardly noticed or isn’t even known to exist by most people.

In 1976 at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia, a crazy outbreak struck 182 people causing 29 deaths. This tragic event lead to the discovery of a bacteria subsequently called Legionella pneumophila, a constant infector evading detection up to this time.

Legionella bacteria are complicated bacteria located in warm moist environments. The bacteria should be found in just about every body of water in the entire world. Water distribution systems provide awesome breeding conditions for the legionella bacteria. Tons of needs promote the proliferation & survival of Legionella. The humid temperatures & nutrients (for instance biofilms & sediments) in buildings water distribution systems make it possible for Legionella to prosper. This dangerous buildup of colony forming units (CFU) of Legionella adds up into cases of Legionnaire’s Disease.

Legionnaire’s Disease turns out to be an infection of the lungs that is received by breathing in water particles containing the bacteria. Legionnaires disease has a gestation time of 2 to ten days. Signs of the disease should include fatigue, cough, fever, headaches, sore muscles or being short of breath, which might progress into pneumonia. Other issues turn out to be hypotension, delirium, heart failure, arrhythmias, acute respiratory failure, shock & renal failure (usually fatal).
The bacterium has been & continues to be mostly misdiagnosed as pneumonia, hiding the magnitude of the bacteria issue. Cases of Legionnaire’s Disease have been increasingly reported in hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and workplaces because of increasing awareness and surveillance. Although this bacterium has been in our environments for a long, long time, it is only starting to get noticed.

The bacteria start to be dangerous in water distribution systems where it finds great breeding environments. The bacteria have the power to get to dangerous proportions in any water distribution system. You need a water disinfection system for protection.

A LiquiTech water disinfection system turns out to be comprised of a control unit & a flow cell. Each flow cell contains sacrificial copper/silver electrodes. As water goes through the flow cell, a direct current is applied across the electrodes to stimulate the controlled release of ions. The rate at which the ions are let go turns out to be automatically maintained by a solid-state, microprocessor-based control unit that is reliable and easy to work.

The ion emissions of the LiquiTech legionella control ionization process are cationic, surface-active & a potent biocide. The water disinfection action is due to the positively charged silver & copper ions which make up electrostatic bonds with negatively charged areas on microorganism cell walls. These electrostatic bonds make up stresses that begin to cause distorted cell wall permeability, lessening the normal intake of life sustaining nutrients. This system, coupled with protein denaturation, leads to cell lysis and death. The pin point dose-rate control process maintains precise ion levels, providing residual protection and prevention of recontamination. It is this residual protection that makes the LiquiTech water disinfection system better than all other water disinfection method and the key to control legionella.

Legionella control is a necessity for any hospital, hotel, cruise ship or health club. Make sure the business you use has a good water disinfection process in place to keep you safe.