Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center is dealing with several cases of Legionella, a highly contagious bacteria that can lead to pneumonia.
As the hospital works to maintain a safe environment for patients and staff, it’s still trying to find the source.
“Legionella loves warm water,” UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said. “You breathe it in through droplets, usually from faulty air conditioning or hot tub or fountain.”
Experts said those most vulnerable are the elderly, people who smoke and those with auto-immune deficiencies. Legionnaires’ disease can be fatal if ignored, but it is treatable with specific antibiotics.
“You might have some nausea, vomiting with that,” Chin-Hong said. “And second – they are warning signs you need to go to the hospital – that might be extreme shortness of breath and abnormal fever.”
Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center is dealing with several cases of Legionella, a highly contagious bacteria that can lead to pneumonia. Damian Trujillo reports.
In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said, in part, “Out of an abundance of caution we have implemented additional water treatment measures and have taken preventive measures to ensure the safety of all patients, employees, and visitors.”
There are no alerts at hospital entrances, and operations remain normal.
Kaiser Permanente said it is working closely with local and state public health authorities to mitigate the issue.
The hospital said it discovered the issue through its robust internal monitoring process.
Read Kaiser Permanente’s full statement below:
“Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara recently confirmed several cases of Legionella infection. The source of the contamination is unclear at this time. Legionella bacteria occur naturally in water and are spread by inhaling contaminated mist, not through person-to-person contact. Our experts are working closely with local and state public health authorities. The bacteria was identified through our robust routine internal monitoring processes, which is in compliance with all regulatory standards.
While we work to determine the source, out of an abundance of caution we have implemented additional water treatment measures and have taken preventive measures to ensure the safety of all patients, employees, and visitors. As a result of mitigation efforts, our hospital and medical office building are operating normally and continuing to care safely for patients.
We take this matter seriously and are committed to maintaining a safe environment for all patients, members, visitors, and staff.”