“There was the Mount Carmel (near Columbus) scare where they had some Legionnaire’s disease cases, and there’s been some other Legionnaire’s cases at some other nursing home facilities through the state,” said Jones. “So we’re being very cautious in how we approach any type of Legionnaire’s cases.”
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Legionnaire’s disease is a form of the infection, Legionellosis. It’s caused by bacteria in fresh water. That bacteria grows well in places like hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, plumbing systems and and air conditioning systems.
“If the water isn’t hot enough, it might not be enough to kill the bacteria,” Jones said.
The health district learned of the case on July 15.
According to a timeline provided by the health district, two days later state and local health officials did a walk-through of the facility with Vancrest staff.
That same day all water at Vancrest was shut off, and water was brought in for drinking, hand washing and bathing.
Following the shut off, water samples were collected and sent to a lab for further testing.
The water at Vancrest was also treated in all fixtures and filters were put on the showers.
As of Monday, the showers at Vancrest had been turned back on, but the faucets were still off.
According to data provided by the Ohio Department of Health, Legionnaire’s Disease affects between 8,000 and 18,000 people in the U.S. every year — and an average of 500 cases in Ohio.
Of those national cases, 5 percent to 15 percent are fatal.
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Legionnaire’s Disease is characterized by a fever, chills, cough, and body aches. In some cases, there is decreased kidney function or pneumonia.
Jones said there has only been one confirmed case of Legionnaire’s at Vancrest thus far.
He said health officials have identified one or two sites where the resident could’ve contracted the disease, but they are taking every precaution possible.
“Just to be safe, we’re going above and beyond and Vancrest is going above and beyond and testing the entire facility and installing filters through the entire facility,” Jones said.
The results from the water samples that were collected from July 19 to July 20 are due back to the health district by the end of this week.
A Vancrest supervisor declined further comment Monday afternoon.
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