{"id":45640,"date":"2014-07-25T13:21:18","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T13:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=84f031d0ce761c31763aa28e132ddb8f"},"modified":"2014-07-25T13:21:18","modified_gmt":"2014-07-25T13:21:18","slug":"press-release-legionella-contamination-found-in-more-heated-birthing-pools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=45640","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Legionella contamination found in more heated birthing pools"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Latest evidence from Public Health England (<abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr>) about the risks from Legionella associated with heated birthing pools used at home was published yesterday (24 July 2014) in the European scientific journal <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.eurosurveillance.org\/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20857\">Eurosurveillance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the article <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> reinforces its advice not to use heated birthing pools, filled in advance of labour, for home births after 4 pools tested positive for \u2018Legionella\u2019, the bug which can cause Legionnaires\u2019 disease.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 10 heated birthing pools, sourced from several suppliers, were tested after they had been returned following the recommended recall in June 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Test results are currently available for 6 of them. Of these 6, 4 tested positive for Legionella, and 3 of these also tested positive for other potentially harmful organisms, including \u2018Pseudomonas aeruginosa\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to publishing the article in <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.eurosurveillance.org\/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20857\">Eurosurveillance<\/a>, <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> has also written to all known suppliers of heated birthing pools, sharing the latest test results and reinforcing the advice that they are not to be used for home births.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Nick Phin, <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr>\u2019s head of Legionnaires\u2019 disease said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>These latest results have strengthened already serious concerns about the safety of heated birthing pools in the home setting and the potential for contamination from a number of organisms which are recognised causes of infection, and pose particular risks to new born babies.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, the <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> recommendation remains that heated birthing pools (incorporating both a re-circulation pump and heater), filled in advance of labour, should not be used for labour or birth at home.<\/p>\n<p><abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> will review this recommendation if evidence is provided of a safe system for use in the home. However at this point in time, it appears unlikely that hired-out, re-used, heated pools can be made safe to use for labour or birth in the home setting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We do not have concerns about purchased or hired pools that are filled from domestic hot water supplies at the onset of labour, provided that any pumps are used solely for pool emptying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Women planning birth at home using a traditional pool that is filled when the woman is in labour or using a fixed pool in an NHS unit are not affected by this alert and should not be concerned. Birthing pools in hospitals are subject to stringent infection control procedures and monitoring. Home birthing pools filled during labour come with disposable liners and are only in place for a relatively short time period, reducing opportunity for bacterial growth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Any women with concerns about using home birthing pools should contact their midwife or local maternity unit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"ends\">Ends<\/h3>\n<h2 id=\"notes-to-editors\">Notes to editors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> has been investigating a case of Legionnaires\u2019 disease in a baby born at home in a pre-filled, heated birthing pool. As part of this investigation, NHS England and <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> published a <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.england.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/psa-legionella-birth-pool.pdf\">Patient Safety Alert<\/a> (17 June 2014) advising NHS staff and mothers-to-be not to use pre-heated home birthing pools while the investigation was carried out. On 1 July 2014 <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> confirmed the advice was now definitive and issued another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/public-health-england-advice-on-home-birthing-pools\">news release<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>This is the first reported case of Legionnaires\u2019 disease linked to a birthing pool in England, although there have been 3 cases reported internationally some years ago.<\/li>\n<li>Legionnaire\u2019s disease is extremely rare in childhood, with only 1 case in children aged 0 to 9 years reported in England between 1990 to 2011.The infection does not spread from person-to-person \u2013 people become infected with the bacteria through inhalation of contaminated water droplets.<\/li>\n<li>\n<abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> is aware that around 6 companies in total in England supply these specific home birthing pools and about 60 pools were available nationally for hire at the time of the investigation.<\/li>\n<li>All known suppliers of birthing pools have been contacted and advised not to supply heated birthing pools for home births. The majority of these pools which were out on hire have been returned but it is believed that a small number may have been retained by mums-to-be despite the advice not to use them.<\/li>\n<li>Key messages:\n<ul>\n<li>the majority of birthing pools used at home are filled from domestic hot water systems at the time of labour<\/li>\n<li>there are no concerns about these types of pool as long as pumps are used solely to empty the pool and not for recirculation of warm water<\/li>\n<li>this advice relates to the importance of women not labouring or giving birth in a heated birthing pool which has been filled prior to the onset of labour and where the temperature has been maintained by the use of a heater and pump<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The pools are delivered around 2 weeks before the expected delivery date, filled from the domestic hot water supply, and the temperature maintained via a pump and heater until labour and delivery. Various disinfection regimes are recommended by the companies.<\/li>\n<li>Legionella is a commonly occurring bacteria and can be found in around 10 to 20% of domestic hot water systems. Legionnaires\u2019 disease is a severe pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria. There are 350 to 400 cases a year reported in England and Wales, mainly in older adults. More information about <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/Legionnaires-disease\/Pages\/Introduction.aspx\">Legionnaires\u2019 disease<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.eurosurveillance.org\/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20857\">Read the Eurosurveillance article<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> exists to protect and improve the nation\u2019s health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. It does this through advocacy, partnerships, world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, and the delivery of specialist public health services. <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/public-health-england\">www.gov.uk\/phe<\/a> Follow us on Twitter @PHE_uk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_1107\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Infections press office<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"fn\"><abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> press office &#8211; infections<\/span><br \/><span class=\"street-address\">61 Colindale Avenue<\/span><br \/><span class=\"locality\">London<\/span><br \/><span class=\"postal-code\">NW9 5EQ<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"email\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Email<\/span><br \/>\n              <a class=\"email\" href=\"mailto:infections-pressoffice@phe.gov.uk\">infections-pressoffice@phe.gov.uk<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Phone<\/span><br \/>\n              020 8327 7901\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out of hours<\/span><br \/>\n              020 8200 4400\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PHE reinforces advice not to use heated birthing pools for home births after more pools test positive for Legionella.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}