The water system of a Dublin hospital has been "flushed out" after two long-stay patients with intellectual disability were found to have contracted Legionnaire's disease, it was confirmed yesterday.
The two who became infected were residents of a unit at Stewarts Hospital in Palmerstown which provides residential and day services for people of all ages with special needs.
The Health Service Executive (HSE), which provides funding for the hospital, said one of the infected persons had fully recovered and the second had "almost recovered".
It declined to state their ages for reasons of patient confidentiality, but it is understood both have physical and mental disabilities. They did not require admission to an acute hospital.
The families of other residents in the hospital have been informed and the HSE said there was no cause for public concern.
"A person diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease is not a threat to others around them as the bacteria are not spread from person to person," a HSE spokeswoman said.
The cases are understood to have come to the attention of the HSE eastern region's department of public health in July.
Its staff in public health medicine carried out what the HSE spokeswoman said was a "thorough investigation" of the cases, in conjunction with HSE environmental health officers and the hospital.
She added that Legionella bacteria, which cause Legionnaire's disease, are found naturally in the environment, usually in water and soil, and most people exposed to it do not become ill.
"The bacteria can grow in warm water, like the kind found in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, or air-conditioning systems. People get Legionnaire's disease not by ingesting water, but only when they breathe in a mist or vapour (small droplets of water in the air) that has been contaminated with the bacteria.
"There are clear guidelines on flushing and cleaning of any water systems to combat any possible contamination.
"Following the investigation into these cases, the water systems have been fully flushed and sanitised, and all best-practice public health protection measures have been fully implemented," she said.
A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed the cases and said the hospital had been in contact with families of other residents of the same unit to reassure them there was no cause for concern.
The HSE said its eastern area sees a small number of cases of Legionella infection each year: three cases in each of 2003 and 2002.
Legionnaire's disease can cause a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. In 2003, an independent report into the death of a woman who contracted the disease while a patient at Waterford Regional Hospital said all hospitals should immediately begin regular monitoring of air and water quality to reduce the risk of patients contracting hospital-acquired infections.