The fieldhouse was closed June 13 after the school district cited illnesses among several athletes. Solid Blend Technologies conducted a culture test and “the sample was negative for Legionella on the CDC culture analysis,” according to a message from school district officials.
“It is possible to have a positive PCR test and a negative culture test,” Superintendent Mindy McCarty-Stewart and Fairmont football coach Dave Miller said in the joint message.
Legionella bacteria can lead to either Legionnaires Disease, a serious type of pneumonia (lung infection), or less serious illnesses.
The most recent Montgomery County reported case of the disease that the bacteria can cause was reported June 13 in an adult, a public health official said Tuesday.
Dan Suffoletto, public information manager for Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County, said earlier there have been 12 cases reported this year, none in youth.
Kettering City Schools officials previously said a number of students had been ill. Asked for an update on their conditions, spokeswoman Kari Basson said the district was “not at liberty” to discuss the medical status of student-athletes.
Meanwhile, Fairmont football conditioning will resume Wednesday, but some areas will be off limits, Kettering school officials said.
“The showers — which are not used on a daily basis — as well as the sinks in the fieldhouse will not be in use until we receive the results of the follow-up samples from Solid Blend on these water sources,” the letter from McCarty-Stewart and Miller said.
“Signage at the fieldhouse will remind anyone using the facility that these water sources will not be in use until further notice,” according to the letter. “The district will continue to take preventative and proactive steps in regularly sanitizing water sources and equipment at the fieldhouse.”
Kettering schools said last week that Solid Blend was performing remediation at the fieldhouse that included the following:
•Sanitizing and installing a new filter on the ice machine;
•Cleaning and sanitizing drinking fountains;
•Flushing all pipes using hyper-chlorination;
•Retesting all water sources after 72 hours.
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