Legionella contracted in hospital

Legionnaires' disease cannot be passed from one person to another.

Test results show that a patient diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease is likely to have contracted it while at Cheltenham General Hospital.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said there was a small amount of legionella bacteria in a water system.

The system supplies four wards in the hospital and has since been cleaned.

Water samples taken since the cleaning process have confirmed the system is now safe.

'Eliminated risk'

The spokesman for the hospital said: "Whilst we have no test results that exactly match the strains of the legionella found in both the patient and in the water system, it is likely that the patient did contract the disease from this water supply.

"We would like to reassure members of the public that our hospitals are safe and we are confident that all the actions taken so far have eliminated risk to patients, staff and visitors."

A second case was recorded in the county a few days after the Cheltenham case earlier this month when a man was admitted to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. The cases have not been linked.

Legionnaires' disease is most often contracted by inhaling water droplets from water sources such as showers and cooling towers that are contaminated with the legionella bacteria.

If the bacteria reaches the lungs it can cause Legionnaires' disease.

The early symptoms of Legionnaires' disease include a "flu-like" illness with muscle aches, tiredness, headaches, dry cough and fever.