S'pore officials say hospital water safe

S'pore officials say hospital water safe

SINGAPORE (DPA): Environmental officials ruled out on Sunday
any risk of contracting Legionnaires' disease from hospital tap
water and urged people not to become alarmed by an American
physician's theory on the origin of the bacteria.

The Legionella bacteria grows in contaminated water, like the
water in an air conditioning cooling tower," the Ministry of the
Environment said. "It is not found in treated drinking water from
the tap."

The bacteria can cause an acute infection of the lower
respiratory tract and be fatal to the elderly.

Victor Yu, the chief of the infectious diseases section at the
Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, suggested at a Singapore seminar on Wednesday there
was a possibility that the bacteria might be found in the
drinking water of hospitals and could be infecting patients. He
cited studies he had conducted in Pennsylvania.