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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
[1]
Date: Sat 12 Feb 2011
Source: Birmingham Star [edited]
Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion has come under the scanner after more
than 80 guests at a party there became sick with a suspected strain of
Legionnaires' disease. Those who attended the DOMAINfest conference in
Santa Monica, held 1-3 Feb 2011, came down with symptoms including
fever, respiratory infections, and violent headaches.
4 Swedish guests were diagnosed with legionellosis or Pontiac fever,
a milder form of Legionnaires' [disease] caused by bacteria
[_Legionella pneumophila_] that thrive in warm air-conditioning
systems. Now some victims are blaming a fog machine, which steamed up
the conference finale party on 3 Feb 2011.
"So far, the number of victims is around 80. Everybody says they
became ill around 24 hours after the party," the New York Post quoted
DNJournal.com editor Ron Jackson, whose wife was stricken, as saying.
"4 guys from Sweden were diagnosed with legionellosis, and they have
the same symptoms as everyone else. I don't want to point the finger
at the Playboy Mansion, but the disease lives in warm water, and
people were engulfed in mist at that party," he stated.
New Yorker Elliot J Silver, who runs Silver Internet Ventures, also
fell prey to the bug. "It is scary everyone came down with the same
thing at the same time. It knocked me on my ass. A lot of people are
blaming the Playboy Mansion on the blogs, but you can't be sure," he
said.
A rep for DOMAINfest said it was working with the LA County Health
Department to investigate. "There were events every night, and we are
giving them a list of all the venues. We have no idea what this is or
where it came from. The mansion being to blame is, at the moment, pure
speculation," the rep said.
A Playboy rep has claimed that there is no truth in the rumour that
people caught something at the Playboy Mansion. "Nor is there any
evidence. None of the Playboy staff became ill, the deejay was in the
middle of the fog and she didn't get ill," the rep said. "We have been
contacted by the Health Department and the Playboy Mansion is
cooperating fully with the investigation," the rep added.
--
Communicated by:
Denis Green
******
[2]
Date: Mon 14 Feb 2011
Source: Chicago Tribune, KTLA News report [edited]
Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion is being investigated by the Los
Angeles County Department of Public Health after 100 people reported
becoming sick after attending a fundraiser and party there earlier
this month.
The guests were attending an event on 3 Feb. as part of the annual
DOMAINfest Global conference. The 3-day conference took place at the
Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica. On the 2nd night, there was a party at
the Sky Bar on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood and on the 3rd
night, the finale party took place at the iconic Playboy Mansion.
Within 48 hours after leaving the mansion, scores of attendees
reported coming down with symptoms including fever, respiratory
problems and violent headaches. Victims reportedly started tweeting
and posting their symptoms on Facebook and that's when many noticed a
trend.
The health department was notified and according to the LA Times, the
agency sent out an e-mail on Friday [11 Feb 2011] to all the attendees
warning them that they had received a cluster of reports of people
becoming ill after attending the conference and the Playboy Mansion
event.
The health department is also investigating the Fairmont Hotel where
a party took place on the 1st night. DOMAINfest organizers say an
estimated 700 people from 30 countries attended the 3-day conference.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[The "DOMAINfest" conference was held at the Fairmont Hotel in Santa
Monica California, 31 Jan-4 Feb 2011; over 700 internet professionals
attended from 30 countries (
evening of 3 Feb 2011, a "fundraising" dinner party was held at the
Playboy Mansion West for Jenny McCarthy's Generation Rescue Autism
Foundation (
conferees between the Playboy Mansion and the Santa Monica Fairmont
Hotel
(
The Playboy Mansion (known as the Playboy Mansion West out of
deference to the original Playboy Mansion that was located in Chicago)
is located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California, west
of Santa Monica, and is the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh
Hefner (for a map, see
Legionellosis is an infectious disease caused by a Gram negative
bacillus of the genus _Legionella_, most commonly _Legionella
pneumophila_. Legionnaires' disease is the acute pneumonic form of the
disease; about 70 per cent of cases are due to _L. pneumophila_
serogroup 1. Pontiac fever is a non-pneumonic form of legionellosis
that is less severe than Legionnaires' disease. Pontiac fever takes
its name from an outbreak in 1968 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. Risk
factors for Legionnaires' disease include age over 50 years, cigarette
smoking, diabetes, chronic heart or lung disease, and
immunosuppression.
Legionnaires' disease, and possibly Pontiac fever, is usually
acquired by inhalation by a susceptible person of an infectious dose
of aerosolized _Legionella_. Usually, a building's contaminated water
system is incriminated as the source. _Legionella_ are found primarily
in the hot water portion of plumbing systems and in cooling towers.
Water temperatures of 25-40 deg C (77-104 deg F) support the highest
concentrations of the organism in water storage tanks of plumbing
systems. Aerosolization of the contaminated warm water can occur in
showers, spa pools, sprays in groceries, fountains, and cooling
towers. Elimination or reduction of legionella colonization in a hot
water system is difficult. For a discussion, please see
Although we are not told how the diagnosis of Pontiac fever was made
in the 4 Swedish men who attended the event, the diagnosis of Pontiac
fever is usually suspected on the basis of a common-source outbreak of
a non-fatal, non-pneumonic illness that is characterized by malaise,
myalgia, and fever
(
is confirmed by development of antibodies to legionella isolated from
an environmental source in a significant fraction of affected people
exposed to that source. The incubation period for Legionnaires'
disease is 2-14 days after exposure and for Pontiac fever, 24-48 hours
after exposure, and the attack rate (per cent of persons who become
ill after exposure to the source of an outbreak) for Legionnaires'
disease is less than 5 per cent and for Pontiac fever, greater than 90
per cent (
Although we are also not told the number of individuals who attended
the event at the Playboy Mansion, the probable high attack rate and
short incubation period is consistent with a diagnosis of Pontiac
fever. While legionella can be isolated from respiratory secretions in
patients with Legionnaires' disease, legionella are virtually never
isolated from patients with Pontiac fever
(
legionella antigen may be negative in patients with Pontiac fever.
Genotyping of patient and environmental isolates has become a helpful
tool to establish transmission pathways. The predominance of one
genotype in patient specimens suggests transmission from a common
source. Because _L. pneumophila_ may be found in water supplies
without linkage to any cases of legionellosis, the actual causative
infectious reservoir should be demonstrated by means of genotyping
methods (see
Santa Monica is a coastal city in the US state of California, with an
estimated population in 2008 of 87 664 people, situated on Santa
Monica Bay, and surrounded on 3 sides by the city of Los Angeles
(
interactive HealthMap/ProMED map, on which the state of California can
be located, is available at
Re: "None of the Playboy staff became ill, the deejay was in the
middle of the fog and she didn't get ill", they were probably all
younger adults not in any risk group. It would be interesting to learn
the median age of those who did become ill. - Mod.JW]
[see also:
Legionellosis, hotel - Mexico: (QR) alert 20110121.0253
Legionellosis - Australia (02): ex Indonesia (Bali) alert
20110119.0226
Legionellosis - Australia: (WA, VI) ex Indonesia (Bali)
20110115.0173
2010
----
Legionellosis - Australia: (WA) ex Indonesia (Bali) alert
20100826.3021
2009
----
Legionellosis, fatal, hotel - United Arab Emirates: (Dubai)
20090205.0509
2007
----
Legionellosis, hotel - Scandinavia ex Thailand (Phuket): alert
20070113.0178
2006
----
Legionellosis, tourists - Malaysia 20061027.3064
Legionellosis, craft fair - France (Lorraine) 20061012.2924
Legionellosis, spa pool - UK (England) 20060929.2787
2005
----
Legionellosis, hotel - Sweden (Dalarna): susp. 20050204.0383
2004
----
Legionellosis, fatal 2003 - UK ex India 20040628.1724
1999
----
Legionellosis - UK ex Thailand 19990422.0673
Legionellosis, imported - Thailand 19990320.0442]
.................................................ml/mj/jw
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