Inquest today into Legionnaires' death

Dublin Coroner’s Court is to hold an inquest today into the death of an elderly man who contracted Legionnaires’ disease from the vapour of a hot tub.

Robert Brophy, 69, died in Beaumont Hospital in April 2003, five weeks after he had inspected the hot tub at a house he was thinking of buying for his family.

Doctors initially thought Mr Brophy was suffering from pneumonia and it was a week before he was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease.

The disease, which is contracted from bacteria carried in water vapour, was first identified in Philadelphia in 1976. Its name derives from the fact that most of its early victims were former legionnaires.

The family of Robert Brophy has been critical of the health service for leaving their father on a trolley for a number of hours and moving him to three different hospitals.

The inquest is due to begin at 3.30pm today.