Since mid-August, 8 people have been infected with legionellosis in Languedoc-Roussillon. Among them, a man died on Wednesday at the Nîmes CHU.
A Montpelliérain died of legionellosis this Wednesday at the CHU of Nîmes, announces the Prefecture of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Man is the first victim of this bacterial infection among the 8 cases identified since mid-August.
The regional health agency (ARS) of the region indicates that “7 cases were first identified in people frequenting the city center of Montpellier”. The symptoms are said to have started between August 13 and August 24. At present, two of them are still hospitalized, but their condition is not worrying. The 8the The case is the man who died on Wednesday after being reported earlier this week.
Stopping the fountains
According to health authorities, patients may have been exposed to legionellosis in public spaces diffusing contaminated aerosols, in an air-conditioned building, with public fountains or air humidifiers.
As a precaution, the Montpellier town hall has also decided to suspend “the use of terrace misters for drinking establishments” and to stop the fountains. She specifies that the investigations to identify the origin of the contamination are still in progress.
Evolves into pneumonia
“All hospital services in the sector and the network of general practitioners and laboratories are made aware in order to identify and treat, as early as possible, any new case of legionellosis”, indicates France 3 Languedoc-Roussillon.
Legionellosis is a serious condition of the lungs. The incubation period of the disease varies from 2 to 10 days. The infection results in flu-like symptoms which may be accompanied by muscle, digestive or neurological problems. With an adapted antibiotic treatment, the evolution is favorable. Conversely, in the absence of treatment of the disease during the first week, the prognosis is less good. Deaths occur when progressive pneumonia breaks out.
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