Legionnaires’ symptoms to watch out for: headaches, dry cough and sore muscles

DOZENS of people distributed more than 35,000 leaflets to homes and businesses across the south-west of Edinburgh yesterday to inform them about the Legionnaires’ outbreak.

Edinburgh city council said it was the biggest single distribution of public health information it had yet undertaken.

More leaflets are expected to be issued around the city later today. The information is being put through the letterboxes of all homes and businesses in south-west Edinburgh, including GP surgeries, shops and libraries.

The four-page leaflet entitled “Legionella Factsheet” is designed to alert people to the symptoms of the bug and advise them what to do if they think they have them. Symptoms include muscle aches, headaches, dry cough, tiredness and flu-like illness.

The leaflets says people aged over 50, smokers and those whose immune systems are suppressed are the most at risk.

Men are more likely to contract Legionnaires’ than women, and it is “extremely rare” in children.

It emerged yesterday that the youngest patient being treated for the bug is 19 and the oldest is 88.

The leaflet describes the risk as “low” and says there is no evidence to suggest people should not travel to south-west Edinburgh. It also explains that the bug is not contagious, and there is no need for people to boil drinking water.

It warns people that after exposure to the bacteria it can take between two and ten days for symptoms to show and in some cases up to two weeks.

• The leaflet was produced by NHS Lothian along with NHS 24 and the Scottish Government.