Has anyone else read this?

[Leeds_lad]

Man caught Legionnaires' disease from compost - Yorkshire Evening Post

He caught it from a cut on his finger. From now on i am definitely wearing gloves when handing it 0.0

[FionaH]

Appears to be fairly rare though, I'm not going to worry unduly

[Nicos]

I'm not bothered- I'm more likely to be bitten by a snake in all honesty!

[piskieinboots]

I won't be donning gloves I'm afraid - I know the risks but I like the feel of it. It is very rare, like the disease one can get from a rose thorn prick

[Capsid]

I won't be donning gloves I'm afraid - I know the risks but I like the feel of it. It is very rare, like the disease one can get from a rose thorn prick

You're thinking of tetanus, this is only rare because of vaccination. I think the issue with Legionnaire's will be in immunocompromised people.

[Jax]

To be honest, there are so many things you can catch from one thing or another that if you were to worry about it all you would never move out of a plastic bubble. I think we should all take care of ourselves, think about hygeine. I very rarely war gloves but always wash my hands thoroughly with a good antibacterial soap etc. Seems to do me well, Im one of the healthiest people I know!

[janeyo]

I always wear gloves when handling compost. But to be honest I would be more worried about catching legionaires if I had to go into hospital as it was all over our news recently about a chap who got it from the hospital shower

[Garvey]

Disturbing News

Picked this up on the web today. Interested to know what everyones view is on this:-



Deadly bug warning after gardener catches Legionnaires' disease from bag of compost
Sep 3 2010 By Jack Mathieson

BAGS of compost are to carry health warnings after a gardener contracted Legionnaires' disease through a cut on his hand.

The 67-year-old Scot was struck down with Legionella longbeachae two days after suffering the gash while opening the fertiliser.

He ended up in intensive care and was successfully treated for the lung disase with an antibiotic at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley.

The UK Royal Horticultural Society said bags of potting compost will carry warnings.

Last March's case follows three others in Scotland in 2008 and 2009 where victims caught the form of the life-threatening condition by inhaling droplets of water in the compost.

Last year, Drew Murphy, 59, spent seven weeks in intensive care on a ventilator after contracting the disease while opening fertiliser in his garden in Bothwell, Lanarkshire.

[Bigmallly]

Good grief, that is frightening.

[Davyburns]

Good grief, that is frightening.

It certainly is!

[chris]

Someone else posted this earlier.. but it does say rare case. I tend to use gloves now anyway, as I hate having dirty finger nails... also I like to keep them clean incase I have to quickly dive into the little ones mouth to retrieve something that's found its way in there!

[Scottishnewbie]

how come they were all from scotland? or did i read that wrong?????

[citygirl]

How did they know it was from the fertiliser/compost?....

[piskieinboots]

..as I hate having dirty finger nails...

oooh is there an alternative for us laydeeee gardeners?

[oldie]

Listened to a bit on the radio about this. There seems to be a lot of doubt that it came from the cut as Legionnaires is an airborne bug. A guy from a compost producer was explaining how it could happen, but as long as you keep the bags of compost cool it is O.K. He advised that bags of compost should not be stored in the greenhouse. There was a previous case a few years ago and medics said then that it was from breathing in the water droplets from a bag of compost that was very hot when it was opened. As usual the media will make a bigger issue of this than it really is.