Legionnaires Disease Shower Head

If you notice discolouration on your shower head chalky white green or brown you ve got some for of calcium limescale or rust.

Legionnaires disease shower head.

To kill any organisms detach the shower head and run water at 60 c for a minimum of 2 minutes on a regular basis legionella bacteria breed at temperatures between 20 45 c. And whirlpool or hydrotherapy baths. If you find your shower head has really stubborn deposits or stains try repeating this process until all of the deposits are gone. The complex sounding bacteria has worrying.

Overall the most common bacteria found in the shower heads were mycobacteria mainly mycobacteria gordonae and mycobacteria avium. Legionella flushing of little used taps and showers one key point to note is that legionella bacteria will multiply far more readily in stagnant water i e. Bacteria is dormant at temperatures below 20 c but can still survive. Why are showers high risk.

This is where flushing comes in. Legionnaires disease is a potentially fatal type of pneumonia contracted by inhaling airborne water droplets containing viable legionella bacteria. The latter can infect humans mainly those who are immunocompromised called an opportunistic infection and those with hiv or aids are particularly at risk. A study by lancaster university found one in ten shower heads were contaminated with a pathogen called mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis.

Anyone using a contaminated shower risks breathing in the bacteria and developing legionnaires disease as the bug takes hold in the lungs. The ritual is designed to minimise the chances of dr makin inhaling legionella the potentially lethal bacteria thrive in the stagnant water which collects in domestic shower heads when they are unused for anything more than a few days i cover my nose and mouth with one hand and turn on the shower with the other he says. Furthermore if you have been away on holiday run your shower for a few minutes before using it. Legionella can be found in most water sources however legionnaires disease can t be contracted from drinking water.

Legionella bacteria is dispersed in airborne water droplets so the spray created by a shower is the perfect delivery mechanism. Wet air conditioning plant. Shower heads pose a much higher risk as showers create a spray which means water droplets can be inhaled and the bacteria can enter your lungs. Such droplets can be created for example by.

Hot and cold water outlets. There may be parts of the water system that are not regularly used. Water that is not moving.