The Santa Maria Hospital clarified this Saturday that it has no official knowledge of the inspection process established by the General Inspectorate of Medical Activities (IGAS), since it is incorrect to assume that there is an outbreak of “legionella”.
This clarification stems from a statement by IGAS published on Friday, which said that the company has launched a monitoring process for the fight against Legionella at the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, which starts on Monday and focuses on the dermatology service.
In its statement, Santa Maria Hospital said it was aware of the initiation of the process “due to news arising from its application,” adding that such a decision was not officially known to the ULSSM Board of Directors. [Unidade Local de Saúde de Santa Maria]”.
In the memo, the unit explains, “out of natural and legitimate concern for maintaining the trust of the 350,000 citizens” in the area of direct influence, “that there are no cases of Legionella at Santa Claus Hospital.” Maria and that two tests at the Dermatological Service gave a negative result, it follows from the documents received from the individual entrepreneur. [Saúde Pública]”.
Santa Maria Hospital also stresses that “it has a rapid response plan that has worked exemplary and a technical committee that monitors this risk, so it is not correct or fair” to imply that the department “has a Legionella outbreak.”
According to laboratory data, “in 2023, two community-acquired cases of Legionella were diagnosed at ULSSM; in 2024, four community-acquired cases of Legionella and two cases with a nosocomial “link” were identified. diagnosis,” the institution indicates.
The Santa Maria local health department “has a strict Legionella prevention and control plan, as well as a special committee dedicated to monitoring the area” and “periodically tests the water used at various points, for example, and from the very beginning, at the Santa Maria Hospital , according to the risk classification,” the institution adds.
Last year, “in a proactive and proactive manner, 360 routine Legionella tests were carried out in the Santa Maria Hospital, a department with 60 kilometers of water pipes, almost three thousand taps and 240 showers in which they are periodically tested.” structural improvements were made that were deemed appropriate,” he assures.
According to the Santa Maria Hospital, Legionella “is a bacterium commonly found in water, sometimes intermittently, transmitted through aerosols and less commonly by ingestion/reflux” and, given its mode of transmission, is a public health concern and subject to specific regulation.
If there are positive tests, “they are immediately reported to the public health authority and corrective measures and subsequent follow-up tests are initiated, always in close collaboration with the SP” and “any diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is carried out in an inpatient or outpatient setting.” is notified to Public Health through two independent channels: laboratory-based notification (SINAVE LAB) and clinical evidence-based notification (SINAVE MED),” he explains.
Regarding the positive analysis published a few weeks ago in online media, he continues that the Santa Maria Hospital ensures that “it followed all these procedures that are easy to verify, so an additional public health intervention was initiated, which confirmed the negativeness of the water on this service as a result of immediate control and security measures taken.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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