Concerning:  The Closure of the Pittsburgh VA Special Pathogens Laboratory

 To Whom It May Concern: 

My Husband had Legionnaires' Disease

My husband became ill on June 10, 2006.  He had flu like symptoms that continued to worsen and by Friday evening, June 16, I had him in the emergency room and St. Joseph Hospital Hospital.  He was diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted.  His condition continued to worsen very quickly.  He had a high fever, and his heart was racing and they couldn’t get it to slow down.  He was sweating profusely and had Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and septicemia. 

By Sunday, June 18, he could no longer breathe on his own and had to be put on a ventilator.

The hospitals infectious disease doctor, Dr. Richard Faraday, told me they had finally determined that my husband had the Legionella bacteria.  He asked me lots of questions, and we talked about where my husband had been and if there was anything different at home with our water. We determined that it was possibly our spa that we had just purchased second hand a few weeks ago.  This was a big concern for me because I have two teenage boys and just the night before they had several friends over and in the spa!  I was absolutely terrified that now the whole neighborhood would contact the bacteria!  He recommended that my sons and I be tested. 

Who Would Help Me Find the Source?

Dr.Faraday told me to contact the Orange County Health Department for more information and for names of commercial labs to test our water. 

---Did the Health Department Help Me? - No

---Did the Commercial Laboratories Help Me? - No

The Health Department gave me very little information and the names of three labs to call.  None of them could help me; they did not test for Legionella.  I even asked each of them if I could just speak to their microbiologist that I needed more information, I was desperate, but even if I did get through they didn’t know much about it. 

Finally Dr. Faraday recommended I contact the plant manager at St. Joseph Hospital because the hospital tests for Legionella on a regular basis.  The gentleman was the best source of information I had found!   He gave me the web site of the Special Pathogens Lab and from the web site I got the phone number to call.  He said that he had learned all about Legionella from the Special Pathogens Lab. 

---Did the Special Pathogens Laboratory Help Me? - Yes

That very day, I received a call from Dr. Janet Stout.   She spent a long time on the phone with me, educating me, asking about my husband’s condition, answering all my questions.  She said that she would send sample kits to me and that the lab be glad to test all my water sources at no charge.   I told her what I had gone through to try to find a lab that could help me and that she should contact the Orange County Department of Health to give them the labs information.  Dr. Stout even gave me her cell phone number so that I could call her anytime, day or night, if I had any further questions.  She also said that she would be glad to read the lab results of the tests that my sons and I had.  I faxed her copies of these.  All the doctors at the hospital were happy that I had found the Special Pathogens Lab and that I had talked to Dr. Stout.  They all took her name and number for future reference.  

Why Were My Samples Left Unfinished?

I finally was able to get all the water samples from my house and ship them off, overnight, to Dr. Stout.  (About $70 in shipping)  When I didn’t hear from her or the lab, I checked the web site again for the number and found that the lab had been closed down just a few days after they had received my samples!   I found out that all my samples had been left there unread! I could not believe it!  How could they just let them sit there?  Why not finish the samples that the lab already had in their possession?  These were my only samples, we had our hot water heater changed and our spa specially cleaned.  Now we will never know if the source of the bacteria was from our house.  I know that I am just one individual, not a large hospital, but these samples and their results were very important to me!!!

My husband was on the ventilator for seven days, had total delirium for 4 days and ended up with an ICD in his chest for a heart arrhythmia problem that he will have the rest of his life.  He was in the hospital a total of 19 days, most of them in critical condition.   He is still recuperating, seeing doctors regularly, and trying to get better. 

When we tell people that he had Legionnaires Disease, they look at us like we are crazy.  The public needs to be aware of this disease and the VA Special Pathogens Lab was an excellent source of information and brings prestige to the VA hospital system. 

The Special Pathogens Laboratory provides a valuable public service - both in educating the public and providing testing services where few others exist.   Closing this laboratory is a terrible mistake.  Please reopen the lab.

Sincerely,

Lynn Ann Winn