A recent study confirms that two patients are likely to have contracted the Legionnaires' disease by inhaling contaminated toilet water after flushing.
According to a recent report published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal last week, the two patients were admitted at a hospital in France who likely contracted the disease after inhaling the toilet water that was sprayed with aerosol while flushing. They used the same hospital room, but five months apart.
As reported in Live Science, Legionnaires' disease could spread through flushing the toilet, which releases "plumes" of contaminated water into the air.
After a thorough investigation, researchers located Legionella bacteria in the room's toilet bowl water while no other potential sources of infection were identified.
The genetic analysis found that the bacteria strains in the toilet water were either identical or closely related to those discovered in the patients.The contaminated toilet was disinfected daily with bleach, which prevented the Legionella growth over the next year and a half.
Also, Dr. Couturier advised close the lid before flushing. "It seems important to educate patients to close the toilet lid before flushing, particularly immunosuppressed patients or patients with comorbidities, who are more at risk of Legionnaires' disease," the lead researcher said.
The findings also suggest that investigators of Legionnaires' disease cases in health care settings should consider toilet flushing as a possible route of transmission.
