A suspected case of Legionnaires’ disease at a rented villa in Dubai has raised concerns about the risk of bacteria infections from water tanks and air conditioning systems.
Despite strict guidelines from Dubai Municipality on the demands of private landlords, letting agents and com-mercial properties to regularly maintain units, vacant buildings are still vulnerable to bacteria developing.
“Some fungal infections can be caused by poorly maintained air conditioning systems and water tanks, with Legionnaires’ disease one example of this,” said Dr Kartik Sood, a pulmonologist at NMC Speciality Hospital in Dubai’s Al Nahda.
“Most patients we see with this come in with an increase in asthma or asthma-like symptoms, because of dust which has accumulated when AC systems are not cleaned correctly.
“If regular cleaning is not happening, then people come in with respiratory problems and different kinds of infections like fungal and bacterial legionella itself.”
When patients present with a high temperature or fever, alongside chest pain or tight- ness, doctors apply further tests to determine the cause and the presence of a potential bacterial infection.
Such illnesses can usually be treated easily with fluoroquinolone, a drug used to fight bacterial infections including bronchitis, pneumonia and septicaemia.
“If patients already have diseases like cardiac disease or respiratory chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or asthma, Legionnaires’ disease can sometimes be life-threatening,” said Dr Sood.
If children present late and diagnosis is not done quickly, the condition can become very dangerous, he said.
Hisham Jaber, co-founder of the Healthy Home, a Dubai company that carries out call-outs for sanitising treatment to combat unhealthy bacteria, said: “We advise adhering to Dubai Municipality’s recommended water hygiene standards by cleaning and disinfecting your tank and pipeline systems at least twice a year.”
Doctors and hygiene industry specialists share the view that regular maintenance is one sure way to beat bacteria
“Maintaining clean and safe water is vital for personal hygiene, showering, cooking and drinking.”
From October 2016 to June 2017, 65 cases of Legionnaires disease – the result of legionella bacteria – were reported among European residents who had travelled to Dubai.
Experts at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control were unable to clarify if travellers had been exposed to the bacteria while in the UAE, or while passing through from other countries due to Dubai’s location as a transit hub for air travel.
Christopher Rajamani, deputy general manager at Al Hoty-Stanger Laboratories, one of the UAE’s leading private testing centres, said the bacteria were more likely to exist during a seasonal change.
“Whenever we move from the summer to winter, or from winter to summer, the following 15 to 30 days are critical,” he said.
Mr Rajamani said 95 percent of the work undertaken by the lab is for regular commercial testing, but the rest of the sampling is in response to illness or concerns over water systems.
“It is only a problem when people are ignorant, or due to low occupancy and a hotel may close a floor, for example,” he said.
“Then they need to flush the water once it reopens to get in fresh supplies containing enough residual chlorine.”
“That should take care of any bacteria in terms of legionella, or other microbiology.”