LEGIONELLA bacteria went undetected for 16 days at the Time Capsule
leisure centre in Coatbridge while ''routine'' laboratory tests were
carried out, a health expert said yesterday.
Traces of the bacteria were discovered in water samples taken from
shower heads in the Lanarkshire centre more than two weeks ago.
The results of the tests were not known until Monday.
Monklands District Council shut the water sports part of the complex
on Monday within half-an-hour of receiving the results.
In those two weeks, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the
Central belt and the West of Scotland would have used the swimming
complex, inlcuding many elderly people who would be most at risk of
contracting Legionnaires' disease.
The delay was explained yesterday by Dr Syed Ahmed, the public health
consultant for Lanarkshire Health Board.
He said tests would never have taken so long had there been a case of
Legionnaires' disease reported in the area.
The swimming areas will remain closed for the next eight days. Only
the dry sports area and the ice rink will be open.
Experts will use hyper chlorination treatment to kill the bacteria.
Yesterday Lanarkshire Health Board put hospitals and GPs on full
alert.
No cases of Legionnaires' disease have been reported.
The routine tests began when environmental health officers from
Monklands District collected samples from the shower heads. The samples
were then tested by Lanarkshire Health Board, which took 16 days.
On Monday morning the bug was confirmed.
Dr Ahmed said: ''The tests would not have taken so long had there been
a case of the disease reported.
''The delay is probably down to the fact the test was routine.''
Monklands regularly carries out checks in the centre, even though
councils are not required to do so by law.
Dr Ahmed said: ''There is nothing to suggest anyone will have been
infected.''
Usually those at risk are the elderly or those who suffer ill health.
A spokesman for Monklands District Council said yesterday: ''We
routinely test the Time Capsule -- not because we have to -- but because
we think it's best for the public and staff.
''There is no question that we knew about the presence of legionella
before Monday. That's when we got the test results.''
A spokesman for Monklands General Hospital confirmed yesterday that
there were no cases of Legionnaires' disease either reported or
suspected.
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