Legionnaires Disease Attorney

Have you suffered injury or a death in the family from Legionnaire’s disease?

Call your Legionnaires Disease Attorney at Carabin Shaw at 800-862-1260. We can help you and your family with evaluating a Legionnaires’ disease and determining any possible claims.

Legionnaires' disease is a serious lung infection caused by a bacterium scientifically named Legionella pneumophila. This name was invented after the 1976 major outbreak at an American Legion Convention held in Philadelphia which then resulted in at least 221 cases and 34 illness based deaths. This particular bacterium naturally occurs in water including streams, lakes and rivers. Some species of the Legionella bacteria are also found in various kinds of soil.

Legionnaires Disease has many symptoms which accompany the pneumonia and in serious cases can lead to death. It generally affects patients who are current or former smokers, people over 50 and people who are immunocompromised (having a weak immune system). Men also seem to be more susceptible to contracting Legionnaires Disease than women. If you believe that you have contracted Legionnaires, call your Legionnaires Disease Attorney at Carabin Shaw. We can help.

The onset of infection with this disease is generally accompanied by general malaise, muscle pain or a headache and begins between two to ten days after exposure to the disease bacterium. The opening symptoms are usually followed by fever and chills.

Some weaker patients may experience diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. After another 2 to 3 days, dry coughs and chest pain may happen, and many of these patients have difficulty breathing. Most of the patients will develop a serious pneumonia, and the disease may affect both lungs and need hospitalization to effectively treat. Hallucination, loss of memory, disorientation and confusion may also happen. The complications that go with Legionnaires' disease may include pericarditis, endocarditis, acute kidney failure, septic shock and respiratory failure. A full recovery may take several weeks and 5 to 30% of all infectious cases of Legionnaires result in the death of the patient. Most actually healthy patients will recover with effective antibiotic treatment.

The presence of Legionella bacteria in samples from the environment such as soil and water does not necessarily associate with outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease. The actual, exact, mechanism which transmits the disease is unclear. The best current belief is that inhalation of the Legionella bacterium through contaminated soil, aerosols or water is needed to transmit the disease. There have also been suggestions that choking during swallowing, eating or drinking, which allows infected fluid enter into the lungs, is another method which the bacterium can use to cause infection.

Legionnaires Disease contracted from contaminated water can be caused by evaporative coolers, air conditioning systems and industrial cooling water systems. You can become infected with Legionnaires Disease infections from hot tubs, ice makers, humidifiers and showers.

There is no good evidence which suggests that this disease can be transmitted between people. The focus of investigations has been upon reducing Legionella’s spread through large building ventilation and cooling systems. As this bacterium thrives in stagnant, warm water, it is entirely possible for contaminated air to be moved all through a building through the building’s ventilation and cooling systems. Sufficiently small droplets are subject to inhalation which easily provides a good way for this bacterium to enter the lungs. Legionella has shown up in whirlpool spas, shower heads, cooling towers and hot water tanks.

Legionnaires Disease often results from negligence. Frequently, it results from failure to keep premises safe from the specific conditions which can cause Legionnaires Disease. If you may have suffered exposure to the bacterium which causes Legionnaires Disease, your immediate call, of course, should be to your health care professional. You may, however, also have a good, solid lawsuit for your losses and injuries from the disease or the death of a loved one. Your second call should be to your Legionnaires Disease Attorney at Carabin Shaw at 800-862-1260. We can help you and your family with evaluating a Legionnaires’ disease and determining any possible claims.