Who said that parallel universes are science fiction and that there is no alternative reality to ours? It does exist and it is so numerous that it “overwhelms us”.
Microscopic bacteria (a thousand times smaller than a millimeter, somewhere...) that exist and flourish everywhere, but even everywhere (it is said that they are ubiquitous), constitute a reality that we live with daily, without our having it conscience.
And believe in a parallel reality constituted by googols (1 googol is a 1 with 100 zeros in front) of bacteria that cohabit with us daily in our space, some so intimately (a measly 1015, a 1 with 15 zeros in front) that they are on our skin or even inside us, just it is not a true act of faith for the common of mortals, because there the bottle of wine that was left turns sour there, to prove it.
Then, every now and then, these tiny beings jump into the news, dominate the conversations, monopolize the attention and leave them in cold sweats looking sideways, not knowing what to do. Do we drink? Do we breathe? Do we take a shower? Or is it better to just sit still and do nothing until it all goes away? I confess that this image is disconcerting and very embarrassing. It's like imagining David against Goliath, only a million times worse in terms of the scale of sizes.
Well, not long ago, Portugal was in the news (and still is), indoors and out, due to an outbreak of infection by Legionella, circumscribed to a specific area or related to it, which made hundreds of patients and almost a dozen dead, and which has not yet been completely overcome. And of course, a lot has been said about this Legionnaires' disease or Legionnaires' disease, its symptoms and risk factors, how we can prevent contamination in the event of an outbreak and how to act in a suspicious situation. It remains to see the other side. "Who is the Legionella?
A Legionella pneumophila, the etiologic agent (responsible) for Legionnaires' Disease, is an aerobic bacterium (“breathes” oxygen like we do), which moves through a flagellum (whip-like structure) and can be found in natural and artificial aquatic environments . In the latter case are the plumbing and cooling systems, the respiratory therapy/nebulization devices and the fountains, swimming pools and spas.
This bacterium, which withstands acidic environments equivalent to lemon juice, does not do well in the cold (temperatures below 20°C are out of the question), nor in excessive heat (at 60°C it does not survive more than a few hours and dies instantly above 70°C).
These facts make the environmental temperature an important factor in the proliferation and control of this microorganism, and make water distribution safe at a temperature below 20°C.
But nobody lives on water and the Legionella neither. Already with “bread and water”… Well, it seems that its nutritional requirement is not great. To grow and multiply, it only needs the nutrients in the water, resulting, for example, from the decomposition of other microorganisms. And with this it is clear that finding water without Legionella it will be like “needle in a haystack”.
But calm down, no problem! What could a single Roman soldier, or two, on the roads of the Empire? Already a legion could do a lot and history proves it. For information, I can mention that the alert level for the Legionella in the building network is 1000 viable individuals for each liter of water, and this network is periodically monitored. Now it's about drinking water and taking a shower, the opposite is that it can do us a lot of harm!
Alexandra Noble (Biologist – Science Communicator)
Science in the Regional Press – Ciência Viva
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