Deceased was one of 16 in Stoke-on-Trent to contract disease, although exact cause of death remains unknown
Health officials are awaiting details of the cause of death of a patient affected by a legionnaires’ disease outbreak.
The patient was among 16 people suffering from the disease in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The group have all been confirmed as having legionnaires’ disease, with the number of confirmed cases rising steadily since news of the outbreak emerged last Tuesday.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said one of the patients in hospital had died. No further details were released about the victim and officials are waiting for a cause of death from the coroner.
The HPA said there had been one further case confirmed in Stoke, bringing the total to 16. All those affected are aged between their late 40s and mid-70s.
A spokesman for university hospital of North Staffordshire (UNHS) said: “The trust is currently treating 11 patients confirmed with legionnaires’ disease who are all in a stable or improving condition.
“One patient has sadly died. Three patients are well enough to go home and have been discharged.”
A spokesman for Glenfield hospital, Leicester, said: “We are treating a patient transferred from the UNHS confirmed with Legionnaires’ disease who is in a critical but stable condition.”