Date issued: 26 May 2023
Issued by: Prof Brett Sutton, Chief Health Officer
Issued to: Health professionals and the Victorian community
Key messages
- The department is investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Cheltenham and the surrounding suburbs. Three cases have been notified as of 26 May 2023.
- People who have been in Cheltenham or the surrounding suburbs from early May and develop flu-like illness should seek urgent medical care.
- Healthcare professionals should be alert for Legionnaires’ disease in patients with flu-like symptoms, particularly those with atypical or severe pneumonia who have recently been in Cheltenham or the surrounding suburbs.
- If Legionnaires’ disease is suspected, request urinary antigen testing through your normal pathology provider. As a priority, order Legionella culture on sputum and serology on blood at symptom onset and 3 to 6 weeks later (as convalescent serology).
- Legionnaires’ disease is an urgent notifiable condition that requires notification to the Department of Health upon initial diagnosis or clinical suspicion as soon as practicable on 1300 651 160.
Read the full alert: Legionnaires’ disease linked to Cheltenham area
