Hot tub reopens at Naperville fitness club after Legionnaires’ scare

The hot tub at a fitness club in Naperville has reopened after being closed for more than two months because of two confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease.

DuPage County Health Department officials on Oct. 23 shut down the hot tub at the LA Fitness along Freedom Drive in Naperville when they learned two men who used the spa were diagnosed with the illness, which is a severe form of pneumonia.

On Monday, the fitness center confirmed the hot tub reopened on Friday.

Health department officials said in a statement that representatives with LA Fitness worked with them and followed “state-recommended guidelines for appropriate remediation followed by clearance testing and continued monitoring.”

Tests done to determine whether the hot tub was the source of the Legionnaires’ disease cases yielded positive results. However, tests of showers and the pool at the fitness club came back negative. The facility itself stayed open.

While cases of Legionnaires’ disease are rare, health officials said the bacteria that cause it are found naturally in the environment, usually in warm water. They said keeping Legionella bacteria out of water is the key to preventing infection.

Both men who contracted Legionnaires’ were hospitalized and subsequently recovered, health department officials said. They didn’t identify their ages or hometowns.

A representative at LA Fitness would only confirm that the hot tub was reopened. She declined further comment.