A wide-ranging look at water quality on cruise ships and hotels, with particular emphasis on outbreak strategies and provision of safe water, was provided by speakers at a Pall Europe-staged Master Class held on 7 April at the Dolphin Hotel in Southampton.
The strategies employed, described in some detail in the presentations, are transferable to water management within many hospital premises. Among the topics covered were current guidelines; the logistics of maintaining a safe water policy; microorganisms found in water systems, and prevention and outbreak control measures.
The Master Class was chaired by Dr John Lee, formerly of the Health Protection Agency, and now a consultant at Legionella Ltd. Dr Susanne Lee, also formerly of the HPA, followed the introduction with a presentation entitled “Waterborne pathogens and their significance in non-healthcare premises”, after which Elise Maynard, product manager at Pall Europe, discussed point-of-use water filters and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) rapid response technology. The morning programme was rounded off Dr Sebastian Crespi, director, Biolinea lnternational, with an interesting and informative presentation of case studies on Legionella in hotels and ships.
Afternoon sessions included a presentation by Allan Johnson, an environmental health and port health officer, on ships’ water systems and their specific risks and problems, a look at the various means of decontaminating water systems by Epsco’s Kristjian Smith, and a presentation the control of Legionellae and other waterborne microorganisms in the leisure industry by Dr Tom Makin, consultant, Makin & Makin Consultancy Ltd.
Feedback from the event was excellent, and participants were awarded Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points from both the Royal College of Pathologists, and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences. Copies of the presentations and a transcript of the day will be available online. For further information please e-mail: elise_maynard@europe.pall.com
