Writing in Harefuah, the journal of the Israel Medical Association, Drs. The number of reported cases in Europe was 1,203 in 1994 and 1,992 in 1998. It was first diagnosed in Israel in 1979 - in a tourist from France. Since then, the Ichilov doctors report, there have been a number of other Legionnaire's disease patients here, some of them seriously ill. The bacterium is very common in nature, and it multiplies easily in water containing small amounts of iron - such as that in air conditioning ducts, whose insides and filters should be cleaned regularly.
High temperatures allow the pathogens to spread faster, so summer tourists are most at risk.
Since the number of cases in tourists centers is highest, and the fact that many Israelis travel to Europe in the summer, doctors here should keep an eye on travelers who complain about respiratory infections after returning home. In most cases, antibiotic treatment is effective if given in time. Clinic director Dr. Robert Sweetow said the devices are manufactured by Songbird Hearing of Princeton, New Jersey. Although the manufacturer has market test sites in other parts of the country, UCSF is the only site where research is ongoing that will compare the disposable aids to conventional hearing aids. But Sweetow said they actually fit 70 to 80 percent of adult male ears and about 50 percent of adult female ears.