In article <3k9e4n$cd6 at mercury.kingston.ac.uk> ee_f635 at dcs.king.ac.uk (Anthony Waghorn) writes:
>From: ee_f635 at dcs.king.ac.uk (Anthony Waghorn)
>Subject: Request for info on LEGIONELLA
>Date: 16 Mar 1995 13:23:35 GMT
>Does anyone have information on Legionella ( papers written etc)
> especially problems in the control of Legionella in air conditioning systems
>Thanks
>---
>> O ""~"" O
> o ( o o ) o
>+---O--------------.oooO--(_)--Oooo.---------------O--+
>| Tony Waghorn 167a Hook Rd,Surbiton |
>| Phone 0181-397-7934 oooO SURREY KT9 5AR |
>|ee_f635 at king.ac.uk ( ) Oooo. |
>+---------------------\ (----( )--------------------+
> \_) ) /
> (_/
It depends on what you mean by air-conditioning systems. Cooling towers are
notoriously contaminated with Legionella and have been well documented
in disease transmission. Most cooling towers test negative for the presence
of the organism. It is rare to find cooling towers with high counts
(>1000CFU's occurs less than 3% of all towers). It is the towers with
elevated counts that represent the greatest risk. In fact , this was the
subject of my MPH thesis.
Air-conditioning condensate trays on the other hand are different. They
usually have cold water, temperatures not likely to grow the organism to high
concentrations, and the condensate is not aerosolized as it is in cooling
towers -- a necessary event to allow for inhalation exposure.
If you have any further questions, or wish reprints, you can email me at
bshelton at mindspring.com
