Hospital Hit by Legionnaire’s Disease : City of Hope Evacuates Some of Its Wards Over 6 Cases, 3 Deaths

Six cases of legionnaire’s disease in the last six months, three of them fatal, have prompted the evacuation of two wards at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, hospital officials confirmed today.

“We’ve got to take precautionary steps before this gets out of hand,” said Dr. Ralph Jung, acting medical director of the hospital. “We feel it’s necessary to take these measures before it does become an epidemic.”

Three cases of the disease were reported during the last two weeks, all involving bone marrow transplant patients receiving treatment on a special ward, Jung said. One woman suffering from acute leukemia is in critical condition, while two male patients are stable, he said.

Two other cases reported in June and one in March involved patients in the bone marrow transplant ward or in a separate cancer ward. All three of them died.

Thirty-five people were evacuated from the bone marrow transplant and cancer wards to other facilities on the hospital’s 93-acre grounds, Jung said. The two wards are being cleaned and inspected, but so far no cause of the outbreak has been found, he said.

Jung said one to three cases of legionnaire’s disease have been detected at the hospital in recent years, but there have never been so many in such a short time.

The disease, which is caused by bacteria, is not transmitted from person to person but can be spread through contaminated fixtures like water coolers or air conditioning ducts, public health officials say.

The bacterium was discovered after 29 people died of the disease during a 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia.

The disease can be treated with antibiotics, but it is difficult to detect because it often strikes patients with other illnesses or weakened immune systems, according to Dr. Shirley Fannin, associate deputy director of communicable disease for Los Angeles County.