Legionnaires' Disease Is Rising Exponentially In The U.S., Here's What You Can Do

Health | Did You Know

Legionnaires' Disease Is Rising Exponentially In The U.S., Here's What You Can Do

A simple cold or flu in the winter is annoying enough.

We do all we can to avoid getting sick by washing our hands, making sure we're at a distance from people who are infectious, and taking our daily dose of vitamin pills.

Now there's something else we need to worry about, but this time it's not contagious.

Legionnaires' disease is a form of acute pneumonia that's spreading at an alarming rate in the U.S.

Health officials are concerned that there has been a 13.6% increase in cases since last year, which is almost double of 7.8% from 2015-2016.

According to the U.S. Center's for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease is fatal for about 1 out of every 10 people who contract it. The signs and symptoms include a cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches.

So how do you get the disease? And what can you do to treat it?

According to Julien Martinez, assistant press secretary at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the disease is contracted when people breathe in water droplets contaminated with the disease.

"A person acquires Legionnaires' disease from mist," Martinez told HuffPost. "Most cases of Legionnaires' disease can be traced to plumbing systems where conditions are favorable for Legionella growth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems."

The disease seen on a chest X-ray. Yahoo!

In New York state the disease has been "the worst outbreak in its history," in light of the fact that there's been a 78% rise in cases.

"Until New York starts testing and studying Legionella bacteria in the water system and applies system-level solutions, we do not believe they will see a reduction in Legionnaires' disease cases anytime soon," Martinez said in regards to New York state's minimal efforts to eradicate the disease.

Last month, there was a major outbreak at Disneyland in California. There's also been an uptick in cases in Connecticut, Ohio, and Florida.

Dr. Oscar Alleyne, the current senior adviser for public health at the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told HuffPost that aging infrastructure needs to be fixed. It may not be an easy solution, but it will save many lives.

"If you look at the growth of population in comparison to what is necessary to control or at least reduce the risk of these kinds of infections, there is an all-hands-on-deck approach needed to seeing what all is there," he said.

Health experts recommend seeing a doctor immediately if you suffer from any of the disease's signs and symptoms. Legionnaires' is treatable with antibiotics, but it still may leave an impact your on lungs's health.

Talk to your community leaders to find a solution in taking better care of your city's water systems.

Share this story to inform your friends and family about this disease!

Moojan has been a writer at Shared for a year. When she's not on the lookout for viral content, she's looking at cute animal photos. Reach her at moojan@shared.com.