FEATURE | HOW TO DEAL WITH A HOTEL CRISIS
How to deal
with a hotel crisis
Legionnaires’ is a waterborne disease that has commonly affected the hotel industry,
with one of the most recent and tragic cases occurring in the Feathers Hotel in Ludlow
where a guest died after contracting the disease. ALESSANDRO CARRARA spoke with
waterborne disease experts and Public Health England to hear what they think the hotel
industry should be doing to ensure guest safety
“My experience is that hotels generally local authorities and defence estates,
tend to be less prepared to deal with and currently works for Hydrop, which
Legionnaires’ outbreaks,” says Mike Koumi, specialises in the management of legionella
a UK-based environmental microbiologist. and water quality. He has worked in the field
It is vital, he says, “that hotels understand for more than 27 years, and has noticed
the difference between the potential of over the years that hotels, unlike hospitals,
infection and the potential of contamination cannot recognise individuals who may be
- failure to have a suitable and sufficient risk susceptible to the disease, “since hotels
assessment contravenes the Health and have no idea who walks through the door”.
Safety at Work Act”. “You could well have people who are very
susceptible,” he says, “since hotels can
In 2017 alone there were 693 confirmed
cases of Legionnaires’ disease in England typically be used by those recovering from
and Wales, according to figures from Public an illness or medical treatment and are
Health England. The most widely covered looking to go away for a weekend to get
recent example was the Feathers Hotel in some relief.” Those suffering from conditions
Ludlow, where an outbreak last year caused such as cancer, renal conditions and cystic
fibrosis are particularly susceptible.
the death of a guest, 69-year-old Elaine
Brown. Days after she had stayed at the
MIKE KOUMI
Children are less likely to contract the
hotel she suffered a stroke as a result of around 12% percent”, but those who survive disease than adults - their smaller lung
contracting the disease, and later died at often have a rough ride - the disease can capacity means they cannot “extract the
the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. still leave “permanent nerve damage, infective dose from the environment”.
particularly to the brain”. Men’s greater lung capacity produces the
According to Public Health England,
Legionella is a bacterium found naturally in
Koumi says Legionnaires’ is an “atypical”
reverse effect - they are “twice as likely” to
contract it.
the environment, usually in water sources. pneumonia which produces different It likes to live in biofilms - a thin layer of symptoms and specifically affects those microorganisms usually in a free-living with a weakened immune system. “It’s an some properties are “not as well looked
amoeba - and favours water temperatures opportunistic pathogen which means that after” often due to financial costs and other
between 20 and 40 degrees centigrade. it won’t affect someone who is healthy,” factors. “I am not generalising,” says Koumi,
The first recorded outbreak of the disease he says, “but it will affect someone who “but usually the smaller the hotel or the
was in Philadelphia, America, in 1976, during is already suffering from a condition that smaller the chain the less likely they are
a convention on the American Legion, from makes their immune system not as strong implementing the necessary precautions
which it derives its name. as a healthy individual.” to control it.” He says this is typically
When asked about the usual mortality
Koumi is currently a water quality
Other risk factors include the fact that
because larger chains have more money
rate of Legionnaires’ disease Koumi says management and control consultant to implement risk assessment procedures.
the mortality rate with Legionnaires’ is “only for a large number of NHS Trusts, “That isn’t always the case, but evidence
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www.hotelowner.co.uk
September 2018