Six people have been hospitalised in Sydney due to Legionnaires’ disease. Health authorities are yet to trace the source of the outbreak but said all infected persons had spent time in Sydney’s central business district (CBD) over the past three weeks. New South Wales Health has advised thousands of people who have been in the area in the past ten days to look for symptoms of the disease, including fever, chills, and shortness of breath. Public health physician Vicky Sheppeard said these symptoms can develop up to ten days after exposure to the bacteria that causes the disease. The exposure usually happens when contaminated water particles in cooling systems enter the air and are breathed in. Smokers, the elderly, and people with chronic diseases are the most at risk.
Last August, more than 100 people in Melbourne developed the disease after an outbreak from cooling towers. Two infected persons, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 90s, died. A few months earlier, Sydney had experienced two outbreaks, with at least seven persons hospitalised.
