Deadly bacteria may be living in your air conditioner! –

Experts warn that bacteria that cause legionnaires, a deadly infection that causes pneumonia, can enter a person’s air conditioner, jacuzzi or fountains and plumbing if not handled properly.

A cluster of deadly disease cases emerged in the Bronx, New York City, with 24 cases and two deaths due to bacteria-contaminated AC cooling towers.

Experts tell DailyMail.com that the overall risks of the disease are low, and when it does occur, it usually occurs in the type of cluster currently treated in the Big Apple.

Basic maintenance of an AC unit in the home can reduce the risk of bacteria entering the home and protect the family from the potentially deadly virus.

Dr. Steven Lubinsky, a pulmonary medicine specialist at NYU Langone Health, told DailyMail.com that the virus is caused by a bacteria called legionella.

The organism, which takes its name from the “American Legion” meeting held in a hotel in Philadelphia, where it first caused an epidemic in 1976, causes two diseases, Legionnaires’ and Pontiac’s fever, which were discovered in Michigan in the 1980s.

Legionnaires is the more severe of the two, with the difference that patients also suffer from pneumonia with symptoms like fever and difficulty breathing.

“Symptoms can include fever, malaise, weakness, muscle aches, pain with deep breathing,” explains Lubinsky.

Symptoms usually appear 2-14 days after exposure. There is no vaccine available for the infection.

Dr. Steven Lubinsky, MD, a pulmonary medicine specialist at New York University explains that most people who are exposed to the bacteria will recover, but people with immune system or respiratory problems are at higher risk of hospitalization or death from infection.

However, the bacterium cannot infect most people it interacts with, as its burden is mostly felt by those with a pre-existing condition.

“People at risk are often those who get sick from legionnaires… normal, healthy people are much less likely to get sick,” said Dr. Anthony Saleh, a lung disease specialist in the NYPresbyterian Hospital system, told DailyMail.com.

Consider smokers, people over 50, people with a weakened immune system due to cancer, kidney disease or similar conditions, or people with chronic lung disease such as COPD.

He said the actual number of cases is likely higher than recorded because many healthy people who contract the virus do not experience any or only very mild symptoms, they will never be tracked and, as a result, they will not enter the official register. . . . †

About one in 10 people who experience symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization will die.

As part of the outbreak in New York, there were two deaths and four hospitalizations of 24 people who tested positive for the infection.

Although person-to-person transmission of the infection is impossible, cases often occur in clusters.

This is because when something becomes contaminated with bacteria, it contaminates the surrounding air, and inhaled aerosols can enter a person’s body and cause an infection.

“It’s usually in clusters… What happens in the Bronx isn’t uncommon,” Saleh said.

Inadequately stored stagnant water can be a major risk factor for the spread of infection, making hot tubs, water fountains, and even some odd plumbing systems common causes of the spread of bacteria.

Air conditioners are an unlikely cause, but also an accidental cause. Lubinsky says that if water gets into the system and stays there for a long time, these tiny organisms in the water can eventually become infected by legionnaires.

The unit then spreads these infected organisms throughout the home. If inhaled, they can infect a person’s lungs.

VJ Abil (pictured), director of the Chicago Professional Center, explained that AC legionnaires can be prevented with proper filtering.

VJ Abil, director of the Chicago Professional Center, one of the Windy City’s top professional schools with a popular HVAC program, told DailyMail.com how he can prevent this with the right filters:

Special FEMA filters that can be installed in your home will not allow anything larger than 0.3 microns.

“Legionnaires’ disease bacteria range in size from two to 20 micrometers, making contamination through FEMA filters impossible.

“Also, because bacteria cannot travel more than two meters in the air and the return channel is at least 10 meters long, they will not be able to reach the filter, which will cause the bacteria to die in the return channel.”

However, the disease has no obvious symptoms. Many people who suffer from it have fairly mild cases, and even the most severe cases present as other mild forms of pneumonia.

Saleh explains that this places a responsibility on doctors and paramedics to regularly screen patients for viruses and to make the community aware that bacteria are causing cases in the community.

Doctors should make sure to screen all patients who may have a bacterial infection.

When an infection is detected in the community, authorities should encourage anyone with mild symptoms to get tested, even if they often turn out to be nothing more than a simple cough.