Complying with the new BS standard on P. aeruginosa

Writing on behalf of IHEEM’s Water Technical Platform, IHEEM-registered AE (Water), Steve Mount, reviews the recently produced British Standard for risk assessment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other waterborne pathogens in healthcare premises, BS 8580-2:2022: Water quality Part 2: Risk assessments for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other waterborne pathogens – Code of practice, and discusses the challenges facing healthcare organisations in complying with it.

Looking back at the ‘history’ of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the microorganism’s relevance to healthcare, and in 1872 Schroeter reported the production of a water-soluble, blue-green pigment on sliced boiled potato and in pus. He named it Bacterium aeruginosum. The name Pseudomonas was proposed by Migula in 1894, and in 1900, after further work, he named the organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a Gram-negative bacterium often found in soil and ground water. An opportunistic pathogen, it rarely affects healthy individuals, but can cause a wide range of infections, particularly in the immunocompromised – for example cancer patients, new-borns, and people with severe burns, diabetes mellitus, or cystic fibrosis