LEGIONNAIRES' OUTBREAK: 'We are giving enough information' - health bosses (From South Wales Argus)

LEGIONNAIRES' OUTBREAK: 'We are giving enough information' - health bosses

11:01am Friday 17th September 2010 in News

PUBLIC health bosses in Wales insist they are providing sufficient information about the Legionnaire's disease outbreak and will continue to do so - but details about where victims come from will not be included.

While agreeing with claims made yesterday by politicians and the Argus that people have a right to information, Public Health Wales said it is publishing all the information it is able to.

“There’s one exception. We have not supplied details of the people who have been ill, or those who have died," said Dr Gwen Lowe, consultant in communicable disease control for Public Health Wales and chairman of the outbreak control team.

“This is because people who need the NHS have a legal right to privacy. If we were to give even a patient’s home town, we know from experience that journalists knock on doors in that town in order to track down the individual concerned.

“We need people to help us find the source or sources of the outbreak and we are more likely to get this help if we respect their privacy.

“Knowing where patients live will not help the public to protect their health, as they cannot catch Legionnaires’ from another person and the places where those people live are not necessarily where they have been exposed to the disease.”

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The full response from Public Health Wales

Public Health Wales has responded to calls from the South Wales Argus for more information to be made public on the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak.

In the Argus’s Comment of 15 September, there was a request for “more detail of the outbreak in order to give people peace of mind and to help find the source.”

In yesterday’s front-page article, “Don’t Keep Us in Dark over Killer Bug”, calls were made for “more detail about these confirmed cases.”

Public Health Wales wishes to explain the work that is being carried out to find the source or sources of the outbreak, and to outline the reasons why some information about the outbreak is being publicised while other details cannot be made available.

Dr Gwen Lowe, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control for Public Health Wales and Chair of the Outbreak Control Team, said: “The outbreak control team wants more detail too. That’s why we have a team of more than 100 staff from 10 agencies investigating.

“Our priority is to find the source or sources of infection so we can remove the risk. We can then be sure to protect public health.

“I absolutely agree with the Argus’s statement that people have a right to information. The outbreak control team has released information about the numbers of cases and our investigations on a daily basis.”

The Public Health Wales website has been updated daily and a factsheet has been circulated in the communities affected.

Public Health Wales has given the South Wales Argus – and anyone else who asks – all the information it is able to provide.

Dr Lowe added: “There’s one exception. We have not supplied details of the people who have been ill, or those who have died.

“This is because people who need the NHS have a legal right to privacy. If we were to give even a patient’s home town, we know from experience that journalists knock on doors in that town in order to track down the individual concerned.

“We need people to help us find the source or sources of the outbreak and we are more likely to get this help if we respect their privacy.”

In yesterday’s Argus, it was stated that “there should be full information as to where the outbreak is.”

In the same article, the Argus provided precise information about the area affected the outbreak, correctly stating that Public Health Wales is investigating the area between Llandarcy and Abergavenny.

This information has been made available by Public Health Wales throughout the outbreak, and in the last few days more information has been provided about two clusters of the disease in the Rhymney Valley and Cynon Valley areas.

Dr Lowe said: “Legionnaires’ disease is not passed from person to person and there is nothing people can do to avoid catching the disease as everyone is always at an extremely low background risk from Legionella.

“However, the public need to be aware of the area affected, which has been well-publicised, and see their doctor if they have been in the area concerned and have developed the symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease

“There have been a number of patients infected in this outbreak who live a long way from the Heads of the Valleys but have visited there.

“Knowing where patients live will not help the public to protect their health, as they cannot catch Legionnaires’ from another person and the places where those people live are not necessarily where they have been exposed to the disease.”

Public Health Wales will continue to provide information about numbers of cases, the progress of the investigation into the possible source or sources and the area affected by the outbreak.

Members of the public concerned about their health should contact their GP or NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.