British doctors prepare for Legionaires outbreak

AN elderly man has died of Legionnaires' disease in what doctors fear may be Britain's largest outbreak ever.

Eighteen other people were last night being treated for the disease in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria after.

Four of the victims of the potentially fatal disease were in intensive care, 11 others were awaiting test results and health officials said they feared up to 100 more could have been infected.

Urgent efforts were under way to establish the source of the disease, which is often spread through the water in air-conditioning systems.

Dr David Telford, medical director of the Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust, said the mortality rate for hospitalised patients suffering from Legionnaires' disease was in the region of 10 to 15%.

Asked if there would there be 10 to 15 deaths if the projected figure of 100 people were infected, Dr Telford said: "That's the logical conclusion."

Dr Nigel Calvert, a consultant in communicable disease control, told reporters at a press conference; "This is the largest outbreak I am aware of."

Dr Calvert, who is in charge of the investigation into the source of the outbreak, said patients were being interviewed in an attempt to determine where they caught the disease.

He said early indications suggested that they had all been within 500 yards of Barrow Town Hall, which is in the centre of the town.

He added that anyone who has visited Barrow since July 1st could have contracted the disease and if they displayed any pneumonia-like symptoms they should contact their GP.

Young people generally make a full recovery, but elderly, unfit people can die from the illness.