WATER SYSTEM HYGIENE & SAFETY


acquired infections, so the frequency of routine sampling for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other waterborne pathogens, e.g. Nontuberculous mycobacteria, should be based on risk assessment and agreement with the WSG. The frequency of microbiological sampling, where there are high-risk patients, should be sufficient for trend analysis to establish evidence-based confidence that control measures remain effective. When establishing trends, sampling should be carried out frequently (for example, monthly).” If we focus on the different infection


Karina Jones argues that six-monthly sampling of the water system in high-risk areas – such as intensive care units – is ‘not sufficient to capture early signs of P.aeruginosa bacteria contamination within a domestic water system’.


Section 10.3: ‘Control measures’, in BS 8580-2:2022 guidance recommends including both a review of monitoring and sampling results, and changes in the water treatment regime, or cleaning practices.


Section 13: ‘Environmental and clinical surveillance’, meanwhile says: “Microbiological surveillance is an essential element of the early identification of water outlet contamination to prevent hospital-


pathways to humans of these bacteria, starting with Legionella pneumophila, most people who catch Legionnaires’ disease do so by inhaling the bacteria from water aerosols; the patient group is mainly older adults, smokers, and people with weakened immune systems. The infection pathway for Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria includes water and the associated environment, yet sampling for Legionella is much more frequent than for P. aeruginosa in high-risk areas such as augmented care units.


A significant omission? We are familiar with the terrible outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the neonatal units in Northern Ireland in 2011/12, and yet there is no mention in


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