NH officials investigating source of Legionnaires cases

MERRIMAC, N.H. — Henry Kruschwitz planned on another 20 years with his wife, Barbara. But two days after she was admitted to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, she died.

The cause, he said, was Legionnaires’ disease.

Barbara died last October — and within days after the couple spent time at the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield, New Hampshire. That facility has come under scrutiny in recent days after the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services identified a second Legionnaires’ patient who also spent time at the hotel.

In a statement, the resort noted that the origin of the infections is still under investigation:

“Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa is fiercely committed to the well-being of all those who walk through the door. The state confirmed they cannot be certain where these individuals contracted their infection, and we are working closely with the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services and New Hampshire Department of Environmental services to determine if the two individuals were affected as a result of visiting the property in Fall of 2023. We are continuing to follow our stringent and consistent protocols to ensure the utmost health and safety of our guests and employees while we await test results recently conducted to confirm the potential source.”

Whatever the potential source — it surely involved water. Legionella bacteria multiply rapidly in man-made structures containing water — from water towers to air conditioning units to hot tubs and fountains. The disease got its name after it was first identified as the cause of a large outbreak in 1976. More than 2,000 American Legion members had gathered in Philadelphia for a convention at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel at the end of July that year. Within three weeks, 182 had become seriously ill and 29 died.

It would take until a similar outbreak in 1977 before investigators pinned the cause of the unusual pneumonia on bacteria multiplying in rooftop air conditioning units. That bug is known as Legionella Pneumophila.

Legionella is not considered contagious. Instead, infections are set up after aerosolized water droplets containing the bacteria are inhaled.

“Bacterial pneumonia can definitely be life-threatening, no matter what the bacteria is,” said Paul Sax, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “When cases of Legionnaires disease are diagnosed they often are quite severe.”

But many cases are so mild as to go undiagnosed — which is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes Legionnaires is undercounted — perhaps by a factor of nearly three. And while the infection is still relatively rare — the incidence is increasing by more than 9% annually, the CDC said.

At least one research paper points to climate change as a possible cause for this increase — as Legionella thrives in warm, moist environments.

“There are antibiotics that can treat it,” Said Sax. “The key is making the diagnosis early and getting treatment started early as well.”

Antibiotics effective against Legionnaires include levofloxacin and azithromycin.

“Right now, when someone gets hospitalized for pneumonia, we typically do a test for Legionnaires in one way or another,” said Sax. ”The most common test, believe it or not, is actually a urine test because people with Legionnaires have in their bloodstream an antigen which then gets secreted in the urine.”

Barbara Kruschwitz recently retired from her position as a physical therapist at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital. Her husband said she was also a yoga instructor — and, late in life, earned a PhD. The couple had gone to New Hampshire last October to see performances at a favorite playhouse — only to become immersed in a larger, more painful drama back home.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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