Massachusetts health officials say a patient at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham mysteriously contracted Legionnaires' disease. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health calls it a "healthcare associated" case, but how the patient got it inside the hospital is unknown. Legionnaires' is not transmitted from person to person. Rather, it's caught from a specific bacteria in soil or water — for example, by inhaling infected droplets from air conditioning units, hot tubs or showers.
