Dominic Micheletti thought he had the flu in 2021.<\/p>\n
“I got up in the morning and I didn\u2019t feel good,” he said.<\/p>\n
Micheletti went to St. Joseph’s Hospital on Long Island to get checked out. Test results showed it was not the flu; he had Legionnaires’ disease.<\/p>\n
“There was a couple days and before I knew it, I got 6 or 7 people around my bed and I say ‘Oh my God, am I going to get through this?'” said Micheletti.<\/p>\n
After just under a week in the hospital, Micheletti was back at his home in Levittown \u2014 but still afraid of what could come next.<\/p>\n
“Am I gonna die when I go home? Am I gonna be all right? Am I gonna give it to my wife? But it was not contagious, thank God,” he said.<\/p>\n
Symptoms of the disease include cough, fever and difficulty breathing. Some people may be at higher risk of getting Legionnaires’ disease, including those who are over 50 years old, smokers, or those with chronic lung illnesses.<\/p>\n
Micheletti survived, but he still doesn’t know he got it. He’s just thankful it’s behind him.<\/p>\n
“I am lucky, really,” he said.<\/p>\n
A recent cluster of Legionnaires’ disease<\/a> has led to one person’s death. Officials said 30 people have been sickened, up from 22 earlier in the week<\/a>, according to the New York City Health Department. The disease was initially detected on on July 25.<\/p>\n There were no details immediately available regarding the person who died as a result of the illness.<\/p>\n The illness is “usually transmitted through being exposed to aerosolized contaminated water. That usually comes from cooling towers or HVAC systems that we see in our big buildings in New York City,” said Dr. Navarra Rodriguez, the president and chief medical officer of AdvantageCare Physicians.<\/p>\n Legionnaire’s, a type of pneumonia, is caused by the bacteria Legionella, which grows in warm water. The cases from the cluster have been found in five Harlem ZIP codes: 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 and 10039, along with the bordering communities, according to health officials.<\/p>\n “If you\u2019re in those ZIP codes that have demonstrated exposure, then we want you to monitor your symptoms and get to a healthcare provider as soon as you can so you can get access to antibiotics, because it is treatable,” said Dr. Tony Eyssallenne, the deputy chief medical officer for the city’s Health Department.<\/p>\n All cooling towers that are operating in the impacted area have been sampled, and the Health Department has told owners of buildings where positive results were found to clean them again within a day.<\/p>\n An investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n