https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/legionnaires-disease/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=legionnaires-disease Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy Mon, 04 Apr 2022 15:54:28 +0000 hourly 1 https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/legionnaires-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-1592320 Tue, 03 Aug 2021 02:52:41 +0000 https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/?p=20517#comment-1592320 […] Legionnaires disease is a respiratory infection “resulting from aspiration of clumps  of Legionella biofilms detached from air and water [HVAC] systems.” Its name stems from a three-day convention of the American Legion held at the Bellevue Stratford  Hotel in Philadelphia in July 1976. More than 2,000 attended the annual event.  Within a few days after it ended, attendees and others who were at the hotel began  showing up in hospital emergency rooms with mysterious respiratory symptoms –  just over 200 in all. Despite doctors’ efforts, more than 34 people lost their lives to  the illness.  […]

]]> https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/legionnaires-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-1404464 Sun, 10 Apr 2016 03:07:11 +0000 https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/?p=20517#comment-1404464 Thanks, Dan for telling this story! After the outbreak, the Bellevue stayed closed for two years. It had to re-open as “The Fairmount Philadelphia” in 1978, under the management of the Richard Rubin Company, because of the stigma attached to the name “Bellevue.” It was re-sold to the Westin chain and struggled to stay open throughout the 80s as the “Bellevue-Stratford.” Today, it’s owned by the Hyatt chain as a mixed use building and operates under the name “The Hyatt at the Bellevue,” the events of 40 years ago being largely forgotten.

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