Defeating Legionella – a breakthrough patent from Israel successfully fights the bacteria

CQM, an Israeli company whose water purifying systems are installed in numerous institutions across the world, is the first to completely exterminate the elusive bacteria

In February, the Tennessee Department of Health reported four confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease in 2016 – including at least one death. 16 Legionnaires’ cases have also been reported last year in Niagara county (NY), as well three more in Pennsylvania. The McLaren Flint hospital in Michigan was also a hotbed for the disease: officials confirmed it was associated with 21 Legionnaires’ disease cases in 2014, 29 cases in 2015 and two cases in 2016.

According to the CDC, about 5,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease are now reported each year in the US, while one out of every 10 people who have contracted it will die.

Legionnaires’ disease spreads panic among patients and medical staff in hospitals, hotel guests and the general public throughout the world; and yet, almost all cases might have been prevented with the proper use of disinfectant, the right water temperature and other measures, federal health officials said last summer. “People are unnecessarily and avoidably getting sick and dying from preventable infections”, CDC Director Tom Frieden said recently, adding that the annual cost of treating Legionnaires’ disease amounts to $434 million.

What is Legionnaires’ disease?

You might picture thousands of Roman soldiers marching together, but Legionnaires’ disease is far less exotic; it is an infectious disease caused by a bacteria named Legionella, first discovered in 1976 in the US: American Legion members gathered in a Philadelphia hotel, where the contaminated water resulted in 29 deaths. Unlike other respiratory diseases, Legionnaires’ disease does not spread directly between people, but by breathing small droplets of water contaminated with the bacteria.

As symptoms are similar to influenza and pneumonia, faulty diagnosis remains a problem, and in severe cases the disease may damage the kidney and liver. Tens of thousands of people worldwide are infected with Legionnaires’ disease each year – most of them elderly, smokers, cancer and diabetes patients or people suffering from respiratory diseases. According to a 2007 report by the World Health Organization, about 20% of cases diagnosed in Europe are related to travel, making it extremely difficult to locate the source of infection, especially given that the bacteria’s incubation time is 2-10 days.

How to destroy the bacteria?

Over the years, studies have found that there is a way to immediately destroy the legionella bacteria, even before the infection: heat the water up to a constant temperature of at least 55 degrees. So why are we still hearing about legionella infections? Because this solution, as simple as it may sound, leads to other complications: such high temperatures not only cause immediate burns, but also involve huge financial costs, especially in public buildings. When contamination is discovered, two immediate actions must be taken: evacuation of all people and a thorough disinfection of all water systems. This process incurs high costs, and in the case of hotels, has an additional financial damage caused by negative media coverage.

An Israeli company named CQM offers a proven solution to prevent an outbreak of the disease. CQM’s unique patent is able to fight the bacteria, and does so without heating the water and while significantly reducing costs for targeted institutions. CQM develops and installs water treatment systems that prevent bacterial infections – mainly legionella. Its SRBL system was first installed in December 2007, in an Austrian nursing home where a number of disease-related deaths have occurred. All the tests conducted since revealed no traces of legionella.