Mount Carmel Health System confirms one person has died amid a Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak that's sickened at least seven people.The outbreak is linked to Mount Carmel’s new Grove City hospital. All seven of the people diagnosed with Legionnaire's stayed at the hospital between late April and late May.
The hospital opened April 28.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that one of the patients who was diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease passed away today,” read a Sunday evening statement attributed to Dr. Richard Streck, Mount Carmel’s chief clinical operations officer
The release says while the person who died was confirmed to have Legionnaires’, they could not determine the final cause of death.
"Year to date we've had 45 cases in total," says Alex Jones of Franklin County Public Health. "That includes our recent response as well as the general community cases that don't have a pinpointed source of exposure."
Legionnaires’ is known to persist in public building water supplies. It kills just a fraction of the people it infects, but it can be especially problematic in places like hospitals and nursing homes that house sick and elderly people.
The release says Mount Carmel is working with county and state health officials to identify the source of the bacteria.
“We’ve taken several steps to protect our patients, staff and visitors, including implementing extensive water restrictions. We are running additional tests on water sources throughout Mount Carmel Grove City, and our entire water supply is undergoing supplemental disinfection,” the release says.
The release says people should contract their physician if they’ve been hospitalized and developed cough, muscle aches, headaches, fever or shortness of breath.
