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Death at MVH associated with Legionnaires' disease

MVH patient died from Legionnaires’ disease.

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By Ben Sutherly, Staff Writer Updated 9:28 PM Friday, February 24, 2012

DAYTON — The state Department of Health on Friday confirmed there was one death associated with last year’s outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at Miami Valley Hospital.

“I can confirm there was one death associated with the outbreak,” health department spokeswoman Tessie Pollock told the Dayton Daily News. “To our knowledge, there were no additional deaths.”

The department declined to identify the person who died. But a lawsuit filed this month against the hospital in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court identified a hospital patient whose death certificate lists Legionnaires’ disease as the cause of death. The patient, Charles O. Preston, 94, of Dayton, died on March 20.

The Dayton Daily News contacted the state health department after learning of Preston’s cause of death through the lawsuit and his death certificate.

The state health department conducts its own investigation to determine a cause of death and does not rely on death certificates, Pollock said.

Miami Valley Hospital declined comment Friday.

The hospital outbreak in February 2011 sickened 11 patients from multiple counties and was the largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Ohio since 1994. After briefly shutting down the water system in its new $135 million addition, the hospital said tests showed superheating and hyperchlorinating the water effectively eliminated the bacteria, which are common in the environment.

While cases of Legionnaires’ disease must be reported when an individual is diagnosed, a death from the disease does not have to be reported under state law.

In an email Friday, Pollock said local and state health officials don’t always immediately know of such deaths for a variety of reasons. For example, if an individual becomes ill after leaving a hospital or nursing home, those facilities would not know that person became ill or died unless they were notified.

If a case of Legionnaires’ disease reported during an outbreak later results in a death, health investigators will eventually learn of the death, Pollock said.

It wasn’t immediately clear Friday when the state Department of Health learned of the death associated with the outbreak.

Contact this reporter  at (937) 225-7457  or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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