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This was brought to my attention http://www.eurosurveilla...c/EE/V15N08/art19496.pdf We have several nurseries and was thinking that toolbox talk/awareness session about damping down compost if dry/dusty and good hygiene measures would be adequate rather going for respirators with P2 filters and associated face fit testing Any thoughts?
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Something way back their in the back of my head is telling me that there were some L cases involving compost in New Zealand some time ago! Might be worth seeing what they came up with.
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Go for good personal hygiene; legionella infections can occur from aspiration of infected water!
Regards
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Thanks for all the info
If the contamintaed dust is inhaled, will that not also lead to infection? Hence the reason for suggesting damping down dry/dusty compost.
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I'm not sure that good personal hygiene will protect against Legionnaires but would never discourage anyone from regular hand washing and a shower each day!
Aerosol exposure is the key issue. This includes exposure to contaminated aerosols from compost windrows that is likely most often to be associated with turning of that compost. Water sprays to keep down dust help with the dust problem, but may carry a risk of infection unless they too are protected from contamination. It's a two edged sword.
Good ventilation is a good idea but if your system is contaminated then you may take the hit for exposing your neighbours and passers by.
Good quality respiratory protection is a better approach but I am not yet convinced that there is sufficient evidence for this since the very few reports give detail of just a handful of cases and this is possibly a rareity.
Ian
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Thanks Ian. Roughly what I was thinking.
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Thanks for this; we produce compost at several of our sites, for our own use only, but still, definitely food for thought,
John
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Ian,
Just to go back there are two methods of exposure to legionella; inhalation of aerosol droplets of 5-10 um or aspiration of legionella. The method of control against the inhalation is minimising aerosols and the use of respiratory protection and the protection against the latter is good personal hygiene as this prevent ingestion and subsequently aspiration of legionella.
Good, up to date information on legionella can be found in the following:
• Preventing Legionellosis ISBN 1843390949;
• Microbiology of Waterborne Diseases: Microbiological Aspects and Risks ISBN 0125515707;
• Exposure: A Guide to Sources of Infections ISBN 1555813763;
• Legionella: State of the Art 30 Years After Its Recognition ISBN 1555813909;
• Legionella and the prevention of legionellosis ISBN 9241562978
Regards Adrian
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That's very interesting Adrian, but what you need to do is think about aspiration, its meaning and its mechanism.
It remains impossible for me to imagine a way in which good personal hygiene can stop someone from aspirating infectious material.
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Rank: Forum user
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IanBlenkharn wrote:That's very interesting Adrian, but what you need to do is think about aspiration, its meaning and its mechanism.
Ian,
I understand lung-aspiration to be the drawing of fluid into the lung caused by an incompetent swallowing mechanism. This is known to occur with infants and comatotose patients. One of the risk factors identified in an epidemiological study of older persons was drinking soup!
In using peat, one of the questions to address is how is the exposure to occur? Mechanical turn-over, eg. forking, the peat would not generate an aerosol. HGowever, if persons contaminate their mouths then any containminated fluid, including saliva, would be drawn into the lung with the legionella.
We know that this is not common given that there are several million gardeners in the UK, of which the majority of them will use peat, and that there have been 5 reported cases since 1984.
Regards
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That is such a remote possibility that I simply dont believe it.
To my mind it is at best fanciful, unless perhaps those working on a compost windrow are geriatric or otherwise disabled, with defective swallowing mechanisms perhaps due to low levels of consciousness or far too many beers at lunchtme, and have a defective gag reflex.
For the rest of the workforce, I'd forget about this but concern myself with what they may breathe in.
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Rank: Forum user
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Ian,
It should be noted that the last 3 cases in Scotland were The three cases had a median age of 65 years (range: 58-65 years) and were treated for community-acquired pneumonia. Cases 1 and 2 had risk factors such as smoking and underlying medical conditions for developing Legionnaires’ disease. There were no significant sources of aerosols.
Regards
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