Water fixtures at Pittsburgh VA test positive for legionella bacteria

PITTSBURGH — The VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System water safety team confirmed Friday that they have identified three water fixtures testing positive for Legionella bacteria, which was blamed for killing patients and sickening others at the VA four years ago.

Officials said they are investigating whether one of the affected fixtures could have contributed to any patient illness. The Allegheny County Health Department is conducting its own investigation.

FREE APPS | NOW | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

• Gunman opens fire at Oregon college, killing multiple people
• Fans call for Jeff Reed to return to Steelers
• Several brands of dishwashers being recalled due to fire hazard
• Man charged in connection with death of his 5-week-old baby

The affected fixtures are located at the system's University Drive campus and include a single patient shower, a staff sink and public sink.

The water safety team said the shower tested positive for Legionella bacteria on Sept. 29. The two sinks tested positive on Oct. 1.

"Water is not sterile, and even with a robust chlorination system, we expect to find positives for Legionella," VA Pittsburgh Director of Infection Prevention Dr. Brooke Decker said.

"This demonstrates that our water monitoring system is working. We have closed these fixtures until they can be cleaned and retested, and we are collecting water samples from adjacent locations to confirm it is related only to these fixtures."

The affected single patient shower is located in a room near where a patient recently diagnosed with Legionella pneumonia was staying. VA Pittsburgh staff recently tested a sink and shower in the patient's room, and both were negative for Legionella bacteria.

The water safety team tested the shower fixture as part of intensive environmental water sampling and in response to VA care teams diagnosing the veteran with Legionella pneumonia on Sept. 14. VA Pittsburgh officials said they do not believe the veteran used this shower prior to falling ill with Legionella pneumonia.

The veteran has since recovered from the illness.

So far, there have been a total of six legionella cases this year. All diagnosed patients have recovered.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Pittsburgh VA to step up water, patient testing due to Legionella cases
  

WPXI