Cases of Legionnaires’ disease continue to rise

FURTHER deaths from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease cannot be ruled out, doctors warned, as people from further afield fell ill.

There are 24 confirmed cases and 37 suspected cases of the infection, with 12 people being treated in intensive care.

One man has died, named locally as 56-year-old Robert Air, from Seafield in Edinburgh, where the outbreak started.

Chairman of the incident management team, Dr Duncan McCormick, of NHS Lothian, said: “We’re hoping to see no further deaths.

“We’re doing everything we can in terms of early diagnosis, appropriate treatment and intensive care, but I think we can’t rule out any further deaths at this stage.”

Two patients are being treated outside of the NHS Lothian area – in the Highlands and in the North of England.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “I want to stress that, although these patients are being treated elsewhere, they are considered part of the south-west Edinburgh outbreak. They have had association with the affected area.”

Ms Sturgeon updated the figures at a press conference in St Andrew’s House, the Scottish Government ministerial headquarters in Edinburgh.