LEGIONNAIRES' BUG CASES RISE.

THE number of suspected cases of Legionnaires' disease in a deadly outbreak has increased to 37, the Scottish Health Secretary has said.

The number of confirmed cases in the south-west of Edinburgh remains at 24 but suspected cases have risen by 10 to 37 from an earlier update.

Of the 24 confirmed cases, 12 people are being treated in intensive care while five have been discharged from hospital.

One man has died, named locally as 56-year-old Robert Air from the Seafield area of the city.

Nicola Sturgeon also said two patients are being treated outside of the NHS Lothian area: in the Highlands and in the north of England. "I want to stress that although these patients are being treated elsewhere, they are considered part of the south-west Edinburgh outbreak.

They have had association with the affected area," the Health Secretary said.

Ms Sturgeon updated the figures at a press conference in St Andrew's House, the Scottish Government ministerial headquarters in Edinburgh.

Those going for medical treatment now are generally not as ill as at the start of the outbreak, she said.

Although the source has not been identified, a fresh round of chemical treatment is under way at cooling towers in the industrial area of the capital where the outbreak is centred.

Stressing that she is generalising, Ms Sturgeon said: "People that are being admitted to hospital with the symptoms of Legionnaires' disease are generally at the moment less ill than had been the case earlier in the outbreak.

"We're seeing fewer people, by no means nobody, but fewer people who are admitted to hospital going into intensive care and we're seeing an increase in the numbers of people who are actually well enough to be treated in the community."

NHS services in the area are busy but coping with the pressure, she said.

In an earlier update to the Scottish Parliament she said the prospect of further treatment to cooling towers was being considered.

At the latest update she said: "I can tell you now that re-treatment is now under way in towers where it was thought that may be necessary."

The actual source may never be conclusively identified, she said.

"I would hope that over the next few days those investigations will start to deliver more specific answers on where the source of the outbreak might be."

Updates on the outbreak would be provided daily.

Meanwhile, NHS Lothian has begun delivering leaflets to households in the affected area, designed to answer questions about the disease.

Dr Duncan McCormick, of NHS Lothian, was also at the media conference.

He said more deaths from the disease cannot be ruled out.

CAPTION(S):

Figures: Scottish Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon