The oldest data available concerning Legionnaires’ disease (LD) in Hong Kong goes back to 1997 and the most cases reported in any single year was 2014 with 41 cases; however, that has changed with the report of an additional case in 2015 this weekend.
Hong Kong health officials Sunday said they were investigating an LD case in a 86-year-old woman, making it the 42nd case reported in 2015.
The patient, with underlying illnesses, lives in Shek Pai Wan Estate, Southern District. She has presented with fever and cough with sputum since September 5. The patient attended the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Mary Hospital on September 6 and was admitted on the same day. The clinical diagnosis is pneumonia and she is now in stable condition.
Her urine specimen tested positive for Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 antigen upon testing by the CHP’s Public Health Laboratory Services Branch.
Initial inquiries revealed that the patient had no recent travel history. Her home contact has remained asymptomatic.
“We are conducting epidemiological investigations into the possible source of infection. We have provided health advice on LD to the patient,” a spokesman for the CHP said.
“As Legionella are found in various environmental settings and aqueous environments, investigations are ongoing,” the spokesman added.
Since 1997, Hong Kong has reported 283 LD cases, including this most recent case.
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief ofOutbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch
Follow @bactiman63
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