This clarification arises from a statement by IGAS released on Friday, which initiated an inspection process for Legionella control at the Hospital de Santa Maria, in Lisbon, which begins on Monday and focuses on the Dermatology service. In a statement, the Hospital de Santa Maria states that it is aware of the initiation of the process "from news arising from its own statement", adding that such a decision is not formally known to the Board of Directors of ULSSM [Unidade Local de Saúde de Santa Maria]". In the note, the unit clarifies, "with the natural and legitimate concern of preserving the trust of the 350,000 citizens" who are in the area of direct influence, that "there are no cases of Legionella at the Hospital de Santa Maria and that the two analyses of the Dermatology Service were negative, according to documents received from SP [Saúde Pública]". The Hospital de Santa Maria also stresses that "it has a rapid response plan, which has worked exemplarily, and a technical committee that monitors this risk, so it is "not correct and fair" to suggest that the unit "has an outbreak of Legionella. According to the laboratory database records, "in 2023, two cases of Legionella were diagnosed at ULSSM, originating in the community; in 2024, four cases of Legionella were diagnosed, originating in the community and two with a nosocomial 'link'", the institution indicates. The Unidade Local de Saúde de Santa Maria "has a rigorous Legionella prevention and control plan and a specific committee dedicated to monitoring in this area" and "periodic analyses are carried out on the water used at various points, for example and immediately, at the Hospital de Santa Maria, according to a risk classification", adds the institution. In the last year, "360 routine Legionella analyses were carried out proactively and preventively at the Hospital de Santa Maria, a unit with 60 kilometres of pipes, nearly three thousand taps and 240 showers, where the appropriate structural improvements are recurrently carried out", it assures. Also according to the Hospital de Santa Maria, Legionella "is a bacterium frequently found in water, sometimes intermittently, and is transmitted through aerosols and more rarely through swallowing/reflux" and, given its form of transmission, constitutes a public health problem and is subject to specific regulation. When there are positive searches, "they are immediately communicated to the Public Health authority and corrective measures and subsequent control analyses are triggered, always in close collaboration with SP" and "any diagnosis of Legionnaires' Disease made in hospitalisation or outpatient is notified to Public Health through two independent channels: a notification from the laboratory base (SINAVE LAB) and another from the clinical base (SINAVE MED)", it explains. Regarding the positive analysis reported weeks ago by an online media outlet, the Hospital de Santa Maria assures that "it followed all these procedures, which are easily verifiable, and therefore an additional intervention by Public Health was triggered, which found the water in that service to be negative as a result of the immediate control and safety measures carried out". Also Read: Legionella forces closure of school pavilion in Reguengos de Monsaraz (Portuguese version)