New York City health officials are expected to brief New Yorkers on the latest in the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on the Upper East Side.
So far, 56 people have been sickened, with dozens hospitalized, in roughly two weeks. There are currently 15 people still hospitalized, and 33 people have been discharged. Fortunately, no deaths are linked to the cluster.
Virtual town hall Monday night
Monday night will be the city’s second virtual town hall on the Upper East Side cluster. It will take placenar ID: 165 922 6004
Meanwhile, the NYC Health Department has confirmed that all 31 building across three Upper East Side zip codes that tested positive for Legionella bacteria have undergone remediation, including draining and cleaning their cooling towers. <a href="https://healthylife7.com/outbreak-of-diarrhea-causing-parasite-grows-to-more-than-1000-cases/" title="Outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite grows to more than 1,000 cases”>More than 180 cooling tower systems in the area have been tested.
An Upper West Side building underwent independent testing on its hot water, Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin mentioned in a social media post over the weekend. Martin said it was unrelated to the Upper East Side outbreak, which is linked to zip codes 10128, 10028 and 10075.
Legionnaires’ disease symptoms
As for the buildings directly linked to the diagnoses, the city says more work needs to be done. People living, working or visiting the area could’ve become ill by breathing in vapors from the impacted cooling towers. You don’t have to live in the building with an infected cooling tower to become ill.
The disease is not transmittable person-to-person. So far there’s no evidence of the outbreak being connected with a building’s plumbing, just the cooling towers, meaning it’s safe to drink, cook and bathe with the water in the impacted buildings.
Symptoms are similar to the flu. Anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms who was in the area in late June is urged to contact their doctor.
