Hot tubs are big state fair staples. Whether people actually go in for a dip or just pass by the displays, it's tradition for state and county fairs to have exhibitors and vendors set up shop to sell anything from widgets to tractors. Hot tubs have been no exception. As a matter of fact, the hot tub retail industry has been able to garner a niche over time through the establishment of a hot tub marketplace every year for fairgoers to shop and see different brands and dealers in one location.
However, recent Legionnaires disease outbreaks have been circulating in North Carolina Mountain State Fair—goers, and evidence as to where it might be coming from all point in the same direction: the hot tubs.
According to the latest updates from the North Carolina Department of Health, an estimate of 128 people who have either attended or worked at the fair have caught the Legionella bacteria that cause the disease.
The bacteria got its name in 1976, when people at the Philadelphia Convention of the American Legion suffered from an outbreak of the disease. Although this type of bacteria has been around even before 1976, more illnesses of the disease have been detected now. There are roughly about 8,000 to 18,000 cases of Legionnaires happening in the United States each year.
Most cases occur in the summer and early fall but can happen at any time of the year. Its symptoms are very similar to that of pneumonia, which is why it can be difficult to detect and diagnose at first. Signs can include high fever, chills, and cough. Some people may also suffer from muscle aches and headaches.
Legionnaires disease is a bacterial infection that can cause severe pneumonia that can manifest in any healthy body, but it mostly develops in people with underlying medical problems or those who are older. It is an infection caused by exposure to contaminated waters, or by inhaling aerosolized water containing the bacteria. It can grow in freshwater and can be found in the unlikeliest places like fountains, sinks, water dispensers, and such.
Even if treated with antibiotics, lung failure is a high possibility with this form of the disease, and around 10 percent of people diagnosed end up dying. But more often, these infections also end up causing a milder, flu-like sickness called Pontiac fever. Unfortunately, 90 percent of the cases in this outbreak are Legionnaires, and so far, 81 people have been hospitalized, and there has been one cause of death.
Because as much as Legionella tends to thrive in freshwater, natural environmental sources don't always expose us to enough of the bacteria to get the disease. Faulty plumbing systems, contaminated air conditioning units, and of course, hot tubs, are common culprits behind the illness.
Health officials confirmed that many victims who got sick were much more likely to have walked by a hot tub display. The hot tubs are now the primary suspect, but there are still questions about how the outbreak became so widespread.
