scholarly journals Legionella Risk Management and Control in Potable Water Systems: Argument for the Abolishment of Routine Testing

Author(s):  
Harriet Whiley
1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 412-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony E. Fiore ◽  
Jay C. Butler ◽  
T. Grace Emori ◽  
Robert P. Gaynes

Objective:To help define the scope of nosocomial legionnaire's disease (LD) and to assess use of recommended diagnostic methods and transmission control practices.Methods:We surveyed 253 hospitals participating in the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System. The anonymous survey included questions about episodes of nosocomial LD, environmental sampling practices, maintenance of hospital water systems, and diagnostic techniques.Results:Of 192 hospitals that responded, 29% reported at least one episode of nosocomial ID from 1990 through 1996, and 61% of these reported at least two episodes. Of 79 hospitals with transplant programs, 42% reported nosocomial LD, compared with 20% of hospitals without transplant programs. Environmental sampling had been conducted by 55% of hospitals, including 79% of those reporting nosocomial LD.Legionellawere isolated in 34% that sampled potable water and 19% that sampled cooling system reservoirs. Supplemental potable-water decontamination systems were installed in 20% of hospitals. Only 19% routinely performed testing for legionellosis among patients at high risk for nosocomial LD.Conclusions:Nosocomial LD is relatively common among NNIS hospitals, especially those performing organ transplants. Environmental sampling forLegionellais a common practice among NNIS hospitals, andLegionellaoften are isolated from sampled hospital cooling towers and hospital potable-water systems. Hospitals have responded to suspected nosocomial LD infection with a variety of water sampling and control strategies; some have not attempted to sample or decontaminate water systems despite identified transmission.


Author(s):  
Khalil Ur Rehman ◽  
Shahla Andleeb ◽  
Saleh Alfarraj ◽  
Sulaiman Ali Alharbi ◽  
Adeel Mahmood

Author(s):  
Jim Hall ◽  
Edoardo Borgomeo

The concept of water security implies concern about potentially harmful states of coupled human and natural water systems. Those harmful states may be associated with water scarcity (for humans and/or the environment), floods or harmful water quality. The theories and practices of risk analysis and risk management have been developed and elaborated to deal with the uncertain occurrence of harmful events. Yet despite their widespread application in public policy, theories and practices of risk management have well-known limitations, particularly in the context of severe uncertainties and contested values. Here, we seek to explore the boundaries of applicability of risk-based principles as a means of formalizing discussion of water security. Not only do risk concepts have normative appeal, but they also provide an explicit means of addressing the variability that is intrinsic to hydrological, ecological and socio-economic systems. We illustrate the nature of these interconnections with a simulation study, which demonstrates how water resources planning could take more explicit account of epistemic uncertainties, tolerability of risk and the trade-offs in risk among different actors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 911-920
Author(s):  
Suqin Chen

Objectives: Through the reflection on the city’s response to the crisis in the process of tobacco control, a comprehensive and systematic public safety prevention and control system will be built to help cities cope with future risks and challenges. Methods: By using the methodological principle of the unity of subject and object and systematic research, this paper analyzes the problems from the three aspects of subject, object and means, and puts forward three important links of prevention, response and guarantee to construct a large urban public security system, and these three links support each other form a closed loop of risk prevention and control urban public security. Results: Under the background of tobacco control, it is feasible to a reliable whole-cycle management system for urban emergency response and accident rescue, a sound basic public safety guarantee system and a whole-society participation system. Conclusions: Due to the change of global climate conditions and the increase of flow people in the social environment, human beings will face a more complex living environment in the future and may encounter more extreme problems. It can be said that at present and even in the future, global urban public security risk management work is facing a grim situation. WHO research shows that smoking will increase the risk of new crown virus infection among smokers and their surrounding population.China is a big smoking country and in the stage of rapid urbanization. Many citiesare densely populated. Once there is an epidemic infection, the cities will face a severe public security situation. Smoking will not only have an adverse impact on personal health, but also the fires in factories, homes and forests caused by smoking.Since the Chinese government’s tobacco control in 2014, various accidents caused by smoking have caused great adverse effects.Smoking in public places has great hidden dangers of public safety, which leads us to think about the risk management of urban public safety.In the context of tobacco control, we should use scientific thinking and methods to construct a new pattern of urban public security risk management. Another important concept is to implement the risk management concept and the value of prevention first in the management of public affairs, so as to create a situation of risk sharing and coordinated response of the whole society.


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