Queensland family caught 'hot tub lung' from their pool

A family in Queensland caught an infection known as hot tub lung from their family swimming pool.

The whole family became sick from the indoor pool after they changed the way it was cleaned, a medical paper has revealed.

The infection spread through the family after a 17-year-old teenager initially went to hospital with a cough, fever and difficulty breathing.

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He was so sick he needed oxygen, the Journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology said.

His 14-year-old brother had similar symptoms, and his mother also had a cough for weeks.

The father and grandmother - who didn't live in the home but often visited - also became sick.

The report suggested the teenager may have been first to fall ill as he spent months recovering from a broken ankle in the family media room, which was next to the pool.

The doctors who authored the Journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology report said it's the only case of the type they had ever seen.

What is hot tub lung?

The doctors said hot tub lung (HTL) is caused by exposure and inhalation of a certain kind of bacteria, traditionally from hot water steam.

"We present, to our knowledge, the only case of HTL occurring from an indoor swimming pool affecting five members of a family, in which one member was not a resident of the household," the report said.

"Further questioning identified that the family's indoor swimming pool had recently transitioned from chlorine‐based sanitation to a non‐chlorine based infiltration system," the report said.

A hygienist attended the home and identified mould in the home caused by the excess humidity.

They also noted the family's pet cockatiel lived in the kitchen.