A few schools all across the District U46 were evacuated after an announcement was made that the schools are possibly home to Legionella Bacteria in numbers greater than normal levels. The report suggests that the schools have begun the process of cleaning and is expected to be reopened for the students soon.
According to the statement given by the CEO of the one of the schools, the district medical officials have not discovered any infected children. Although, it is a good news that none of the students were infected with the Legionella Bacteria, but a few questions have come up with regards to the health hazard the Legionella Bacteria posed for the children at the schools.
Mr. Tony Sanders also added that they will be keeping the schools closed for all individuals without proper protection unless things are cleared off completely. This is the very first time when a school has been forced to stay shut owing to a health hazard formed inside the school premises. More than 2,900 students were forced to leave the school premises in an immediate evacuation that was carried out.
Like normal routine, the waters from the air conditioning unit was sent for the test on September 8th, but it was until this Wednesday that the reports had arrived and the immediate evacuation was put through.
The Legionella Bacteria is a common feature of the waters in the air conditioner and is safe provided it stays under normal levels. But according to the reports, the Legionella Bacteria level in the air conditioner waters was way above the normal stipulated amount.
The Legionella Bacteria is known to cause a disease termed Legionnaires disease and can even be fatal in extreme cases. In the past, the Legionella Bacteria has killed 13 individuals in a similar outbreak.
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