This information could not be confirmed by the hotel because, according to the hotel receptionist, the management “is not speaking to the press, so it’s ‘no comment’ to every question you’re going to ask”.

The Qawra Palace Hotel was closed down last week by the Public Health Department and the Malta Tourism Authority following reports of a number of cases of Legionnaires’ Disease. All the patients reported respiratory problems after their arrival back in their home country, and were later diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease. The sex, age and nationalities of the patients are not known.

Legionnaires’ Disease, which is caused by Legionella bacteria, is potentially lethal and kills between 10 and 15 per cent of those infected. Symptoms include a flu-like illness, followed by a dry cough which frequently progresses to pneumonia.

In Europe, nearly 700 cases of Legionnaires’ Disease were reported to be associated with staying in hotels or other holiday accommodation in 2002. It is understood that last year, a man who was infected with the disease as a result of staying in a hotel was awarded E21,000 compensation.

Until the health authorities certify that the bacteria is no longer present, the hotel cannot re-open for business.

Tourists who tried booking into the Qawra Palace Hotel for next weekend told this newspaper that they had been informed that the hotel was at present closed for refurbishment and would re-open in December.

Sources close to the Health Department explained that the hotel’s management has been informed about the guidelines and work should have started already.

Asked how the presence of this bacteria in this hotel was discovered, the source said samples of water had been taken from several points around the hotel, including the pipes connected to the air-conditioning units and cooling stations.

When asked, the source said the health authorities had not checked nearby hotels for the presence of this bacteria because the reported cases all referred to the Qawra Palace Hotel.

The disease is caught by breathing in air in an aerosol which can be formed from fine droplets generated from water containing the bacteria as a result of, for example, running a tap or shower or simply flushing a toilet.

According to the European guidelines, the potential risk areas in hotel are showers and taps, spa and whirlpool baths, Turkish baths and saunas, cooling towers and evaporative condensers, ornamental fountains (particularly those indoors) and humidified food displays.

The guidelines state that if a hotel does not have an active programme to control the growth of Legionella, it is negligent in ensuring the safety of its guests.

It suggests that a hotel should have one named person responsible for Legionella control. It also recommends that hot water must be kept at temperatures between 50˚C and 60˚C at all times and that cold water must be maintained at temperatures below 25˚C.

The guidelines also recommend that hotel staff should run all taps and showers in guest-rooms for several minutes at least once a week, if they are unoccupied, and always prior to occupation.

It urges hoteliers to keep shower heads and taps clean and free from scale; to clean and disinfect cooling towers and associated pipes in air-conditioning systems at least twice a year; to clean and disinfect water heaters at least once a year; to disinfect the hot water systems with high-level chlorine for between two and four hours after work on water heaters and before the beginning of every season and to clean all water filters regularly.

The recognised risk factors of the disease include being older than 50, being male, having a chronic underlying disease and being a heavy cigarette smoker. Older people are more susceptible to Legionella infection because they have less resistance to the

bacteria.

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