Tag Archives: playboy

Grotto may be grungy; Legionnella found in Playboy Mansion’s cave

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The L.A. Times reports the bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease have been found in the Playboy Mansion’s grotto, the famed artificial cave that houses a whirlpool spa (right, the precise location the bacterium was found).

The bacteria, legionella pneumophila, are a suspect in the illnesses among attendees of a DomainFest fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on Feb. 3.

Previously, health authorities had said only that the bacteria legionella pneumophila were identified at a whirlpool spa at the Playboy Mansion. The precise location of that spa was made public during a presentation by Dr. Caitlin Reed at a conference of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta last week. The Times reviewed a copy of the presentation on Friday.

In her presentation, Reed presented data showing that among everyone who attended the conference, the highest risk of illness was found to be in people who attended the Playboy Mansion party on Feb. 3, as opposed to people who attended parties at hotels.

Reed presented a classic whodunit public disease investigation in her presentation. Twitter, Facebook and an online poll were key tools to help scientists track down the source of illness.

Reed’s presentation on the role of social media in helping to crack a case is available at http://documents.latimes.com/social-media-playboy/

Los Angeles County health officials were spurred into action on Feb. 11 after receiving a call from a journalist about the large number of illnesses following a DomainFest convention on Feb. 1-3; many attendees had begun writing on blogs and social media about widespread illnesses among conference attendees.

Reed said social media were helpful in the disease investigation, which helped investigators identify the outbreak quickly, enabling them to receive responses quickly from attendees, who had traveled from 30 countries; and allowed for the issuing of speedy recommendations for patients to receive lab testing.

There were some negative side effects, the presentation said, including “wasted effort responding to rumors” and that it “amplified inaccurate media stories.”
 

gh, clean those hot tubs; Legionella confirmed as source of outbreak at Playboy mansion; 123 sickened; social media provided clues

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Health officials identified legionella bacteria in a whirlpool spa at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles during an investigation in February that began when people were sickened after attending a fundraiser.

The Los Angeles Times reports a number of people came down with a respiratory illness after DomainFest’s Feb. 1-3 conference, which culminated in a fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles. Officials investigated to see if legionellosis was at fault; the more severe version of that illness is known as Legionnaires’ disease, while a milder version is called Pontiac fever.

Out of 439 people contacted by L.A. County public health officials, 123 fell sick with fever and at least one other symptom, such as headache, cough, shortness of breath, or aches. Sixty-nine people got sick on the same day, Feb. 5.

Health investigators used blogs, Twitter and Facebook and had an online survey sent to all 715 conference attendees, who had traveled from 30 countries, to determine the extent of the outbreak. Seventy-nine people said through social media that they were ill.

The results were made public Friday in a presentation by L.A. County health officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual Epidemic Intelligence Service conference in Atlanta.

Playboy Mansion bacteria points to Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

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Los Angeles County public health officials have identified Legionella bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, at a water source at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in its investigation of the source of illness that sickened people after a fundraiser earlier this month.

Public health officials have suspected Legionnaires’ disease in the outbreak, a disease spread by bacteria that causes respiratory illness, such as a cough, and malaise, chills and fever.

Officials, however, have not ruled out other bacteria or viruses, because Legionella bacteria are commonly found in moist environments, Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the county Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

Health officials have said that the people fell ill after they attended DomainFest’s Feb. 1-3 conference, which culminated with a fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles.

DomainFest released a statement Tuesday that urged those who attended the Feb. 3 fundraising event at the Playboy Mansion to fill out a confidential survey to assist health officials with their investigation.

Hef, get the grudge out of there; Playboy Legionnairy-type outbreak grows like spa fungus to 170

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Los Angeles County health officials said Monday that 170 people have fallen ill after attending or working at a fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, but they do not believe the outbreak has spread beyond those associated with the event.

The possible outbreak of legionellosis, or Pontiac fever, affected people connected with the Feb. 3 DOMAINfest Global Conference in Santa Monica, "with symptoms mostly consisting of fever, chills, general discomfort (malaise) and some cough," according to a statement Monday by the county Department of Public Health.

The department was notified last Friday of a "suspected respiratory infection outbreak" among those associated with the conference, and officials were still identifying and contacting possible victims Monday, according to the statement.

Spokeswomen for Playboy and the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, where the conference was held, did not return phone calls Monday.

Hef, clean the fog machine; Playboy Mansion investigated after 75 guests fall ill in apparent outbreak of Legionaires disease

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Health officials are investigating the Playboy Mansion over fears Hugh Hefner’s famed property is the source of a recent disease outbreak.

More than 75 conference guests who attended a fundraiser at the Los Angeles residence were reportedly struck down by a respiratory infection.

Four Swedish men who attended the event were diagnosed with Legionellosis or pontiac fever, a milder form of Legionnaires disease caused by bacteria that thrives in warm air-conditioning systems.

A fog machine used at the bash could have spread the illness.

Over 700 guests were attending an event on February 3 as part of the annual DOMAINfest Global conference.

Many of the victims started tweeting and posting their symptoms on Facebook and that’s when organizers of the conference noticed a trend.