Legionnaires’ Disease Can Spread Through Windshield Wipers Using Tap Water, 34 Died in 1976 Outbreak
Updated
Updated · syracuse.com · Aug 21
Legionnaires’ Disease Can Spread Through Windshield Wipers Using Tap Water, 34 Died in 1976 Outbreak
2 articles · Updated · syracuse.com · Aug 21
Summary
Tap water in a windshield-wiper reservoir can transmit Legionnaires’ disease when wipers turn contaminated water into a fine mist that a driver inhales; standard windshield-washer fluid does not carry that risk.
Legionella bacteria spread mainly through aerosolized water rather than drinking water or person-to-person contact, with cooling towers and building water systems still the most common sources of larger outbreaks.
Older adults and people with weakened immune systems face higher risk, and the illness presents as pneumonia but more often includes nausea, vomiting or diarrhea along with lab abnormalities such as low sodium.
PCR or culture of coughed-up material is highly accurate for diagnosis, while treatment requires antibiotics that cover Legionella—commonly azithromycin, clarithromycin or levofloxacin—because some standard pneumonia drugs do not work.