IDEXX has announced that the Pseudalert test for the 24-hour detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been accepted by the UK Standing Committee of Analysts (SCA) for the analysis of drinking water and is now specified as a recommended method in the committee’s publication, The Microbiology of Drinking Waters Part 8 – Methods for the isolation and enumeration of Aeromonas and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MoDW).
Andrew Headland, senior business manager for IDEXX EMEA said: “Pseudalert is an effective test which detects P. aeruginosa quickly and gives definitive, easy-to-interpret results.”
“The inclusion of Pseudalert in the ‘blue book’ for drinking water is an important regulatory step, and allows the test to be used, not only for mains drinking water testing, but also for testing within healthcare environments where vulnerable populations are more susceptible and more at risk to Pseudomonas infections.”
Being specified within document means Pseudalert is fully validated to be used to undertake the microbiological examination of water samples for P. aeruginosa a in a UK healthcare environment under the guidelines laid out in the Health Technical Memorandum 04-01 Part B: Safe water in healthcare premises.
Published comparative studies, carried out at independent laboratories, showed positive results for Pseudalert against current agar-based methods.
Consistent with other IDEXX Water tests, Pseudalert is simple to use, and delivers definitive results with no additional confirmation steps while minimising the risk of false positives from non-target organisms.
Launched in 2011, the test is based on a bacterial enzyme detection technology that signals the presence of P. aeruginosa through the hydrolysis of a substrate in the Pseudalert reagent.
P. aeruginosa cells rapidly grow and reproduce using the rich supply of amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients present in the Pseudalert reagent.
Actively-growing strains of P. aeruginosa have an enzyme that metabolises the substrate in the reagent to produce blue fluorescence under ultraviolet light.
Where quantification of a sample is required, IDEXX has developed a simple device known as a Quanti-Tray, which consists of 51 individually-sealable cells. It can also be incubated for 24 hours, after which the fluorescent cells can be counted and quantified by reference to a Most Probable Number (MPN) table.
Pseudalert detects P. aeruginosa at 1 CFU in either 100ml or 250ml water samples, and gives a confirmed result within 24 hours.