Pathogen Solutions Pathogen research, infection control and lab innovation.

Pathogen Solutions

Pathogen research, infection control and lab innovation.

Latest Articles

First Scope, First Check: A Morning Assurance Model for Endoscope Washer-Disinfectors
Contamination Control

First Scope, First Check: A Morning Assurance Model for Endoscope Washer-Disinfectors

Validation of an automated endoscope washer-disinfector is often treated as a commissioning milestone. In practice, it is a daily clinical control: the evidence that the first scope of the day has been processed through a cycle that was irrigated, dosed, sampled and recorded as intended. This article sets out a UK-focused morning assurance routine and periodic audit model for endoscopy and microbiology teams.
The Report Is Not the Message: Making Breakpoint Revisions Legible on the UK Ward
Antimicrobial Resistance

The Report Is Not the Message: Making Breakpoint Revisions Legible on the UK Ward

A revised susceptibility breakpoint can turn a susceptible result into a resistant one while the organism itself has not changed. This article sets out a UK laboratory workflow for making that shift visible to clinicians, from version-controlled comment codes to a structured 30-day review of receipt, understanding and action.
The Hatch With a Job to Do: Assuring Pass Box Containment Before the First Transfer
Contamination Control

The Hatch With a Job to Do: Assuring Pass Box Containment Before the First Transfer

Pass boxes are often specified as containment interfaces and then managed as transfer hatches. This article sets out how UK containment laboratories can commission interlocks, pressure regimes, airflow and alarms as a single verified control, and keep that verification alive through routine monitoring.
The Last Mile of Notification: Auditing Receipt and Action in UK Pathogen Reporting
Public Health Surveillance

The Last Mile of Notification: Auditing Receipt and Action in UK Pathogen Reporting

A notifiable pathogen result is not closed when the message leaves the laboratory. This audit framework helps UK laboratories evidence receipt, escalation and ward-level action without turning assurance into a paper exercise.
The Silent Thaw: A Governance-Led Playbook for Ultracold Storage Failure
Laboratory Practice

The Silent Thaw: A Governance-Led Playbook for Ultracold Storage Failure

An ultracold freezer failure is not merely an estates incident: it is a time-critical laboratory governance event with infection-control, scientific and regulatory consequences. This playbook sets out a UK-specific response covering alarm escalation, sample triage, dry-ice logistics and post-incident viability checks.
Sealed, Not Assumed: A Joint Lab and Estates Protocol for Negative-Pressure Isolation Rooms
Contamination Control

Sealed, Not Assumed: A Joint Lab and Estates Protocol for Negative-Pressure Isolation Rooms

Negative-pressure isolation rooms are often treated as a fixed building feature, yet their performance depends on routine verification across estates, microbiology and infection control. This practical protocol sets out how UK teams can check pressure differentials, air-change performance and targeted air sampling before winter 2026/27—without overstating what any single sample can prove.
When the Pharmacy Becomes the Testing Site: A Validation Framework for Near-Patient Molecular Assays
Laboratory Practice

When the Pharmacy Becomes the Testing Site: A Validation Framework for Near-Patient Molecular Assays

Community pharmacy testing is expanding, but a molecular result is only as trustworthy as the system around it. This framework sets out the analytical, environmental and governance checks UK laboratory teams should expect before near-patient assays are used for patient care.
After the Rash Appears: A Measles Confirmation Pathway for UK Laboratories
Laboratory Practice

After the Rash Appears: A Measles Confirmation Pathway for UK Laboratories

Measles is no longer a theoretical line in the UK laboratory repertoire. This guide sets out a practical confirmation pathway for 2026, from oral fluid and throat swab PCR to salivary IgM, timing after rash onset, staff immunity and the UKHSA notification chain.
Rehearsing the Unthinkable: A Biosecurity Tabletop for the UK Microbiology Bench
Laboratory Practice

Rehearsing the Unthinkable: A Biosecurity Tabletop for the UK Microbiology Bench

An unexpected parcel, a leaking specimen bag, a powder with no paperwork attached: the overwhelming majority will be innocent, but the judgement made in the first ten minutes is not. A practical guide to running a biosecurity tabletop that tests decisions rather than recall.
Speed Is a Claim, Not a Result: A Checklist for Rapid AST Adoption in UK Laboratories
Antimicrobial Resistance

Speed Is a Claim, Not a Result: A Checklist for Rapid AST Adoption in UK Laboratories

Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing can shave a day off a bloodstream infection result, and a day is worth having. But speed only becomes a susceptibility result when validation, breakpoints, reporting and the ward all move at the same pace. An opinionated adoption checklist for UK laboratory leaders.
The Camera Never Blinks: Validating Automated Colony Counting Before It Signs Off a Result
Laboratory Practice

The Camera Never Blinks: Validating Automated Colony Counting Before It Signs Off a Result

Automated image analysis is moving from demonstration bench to routine work in UK microbiology. The equipment is usually the easy part; the defensible evidence package, the change-control discipline and the named human accountability are not. Here is what a credible 2026 validation route looks like under UKAS and UKCA expectations.
Counting What Cannot Be Seen: Pressure-Testing Environmental Monitoring in UK Cell and Gene Therapy Cleanrooms
Contamination Control

Counting What Cannot Be Seen: Pressure-Testing Environmental Monitoring in UK Cell and Gene Therapy Cleanrooms

Many UK cell and gene therapy facilities run environmental monitoring plans inherited from conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing, then discover that small batches and short campaigns break the assumptions behind them. This is a practical 2026 framework for risk-based monitoring, fragile trending data and proportionate contamination response.
Where the Water Waits: Auditing Sinks, Traps and Filters in UK Microbiology Laboratories
Laboratory Practice

Where the Water Waits: Auditing Sinks, Traps and Filters in UK Microbiology Laboratories

Hand hygiene, bench disinfection and autoclave cycles absorb most of the infection-control attention in UK laboratories, yet the water system can sit quietly colonised for years. This room-by-room walkthrough sets out how laboratory managers can audit taps, traps, drainage and point-of-use filters, document the findings, and decide when a result warrants escalation rather than a shrug.
Reading a Phagogram: What Phage Susceptibility Testing Can and Cannot Tell a UK Clinical Team
Antimicrobial Resistance

Reading a Phagogram: What Phage Susceptibility Testing Can and Cannot Tell a UK Clinical Team

Requests for phage susceptibility testing are arriving in UK laboratories with increasing frequency, often for patients whose options have narrowed sharply. A phagogram is a genuinely useful piece of evidence, but it is not a minimum inhibitory concentration, and the gap between a clear plaque and a clinical outcome is wider than many conversations currently acknowledge.
Pressure, Proof and the Paper Trail: Rethinking Autoclave Validation in UK Laboratories
Laboratory Practice

Pressure, Proof and the Paper Trail: Rethinking Autoclave Validation in UK Laboratories

Autoclave validation is often treated as an annual paperwork exercise. In 2026, with audit scrutiny tightening, UK laboratories need to treat it as a live infection-control control point — from load configuration and biological indicators to staff competency and defensible records.
Before the Ward Alert: A Candida auris Playbook for UK Microbiology Laboratories
Public Health Surveillance

Before the Ward Alert: A Candida auris Playbook for UK Microbiology Laboratories

Candida auris preparedness should not begin with a ward outbreak. UK clinical microbiology laboratories need a practical playbook covering identification limits, environmental sampling requests, infection prevention communication and the gap between national guidance and bench reality.
When the Patient Becomes the Collector: A UK Lab Framework for Home Sampling
Public Health Surveillance

When the Patient Becomes the Collector: A UK Lab Framework for Home Sampling

Home-collected samples for STIs, respiratory infections and microbiome testing are moving from novelty to routine in parts of the UK. Laboratories need a disciplined framework for validation, instruction design, transport stability and result follow-up before convenience outruns clinical governance.
The Cold Chain Is a Clinical Control: Food-Grade Lessons for UK Specimen Transport
Laboratory Practice

The Cold Chain Is a Clinical Control: Food-Grade Lessons for UK Specimen Transport

Specimen integrity is often treated as a courier concern rather than a clinical control. Borrowing food safety’s discipline around temperature abuse gives UK laboratories a practical way to audit transport, handoffs and excursion records before diagnostic accuracy is compromised.
Reading the Sewage Signal: A Realistic Guide to England’s Winter 2026/27 Wastewater Watch
Public Health Surveillance

Reading the Sewage Signal: A Realistic Guide to England’s Winter 2026/27 Wastewater Watch

England’s wastewater monitoring offers an early, population-level view of respiratory and gastrointestinal pathogens, but it is not a local diagnostic dashboard. As winter 2026/27 begins, the value lies in reading the signal carefully—with the right normalisation, resolution and caveats.
The Bench Is Not the Villain: Why UK Lab Infection Control Needs Human Factors
Laboratory Practice

The Bench Is Not the Villain: Why UK Lab Infection Control Needs Human Factors

Many contamination and near-miss events in UK diagnostic laboratories are shaped by workflow design, staffing pressure and handover failures rather than equipment alone. A human-factors approach can turn audit from a false comfort into a genuine route to safer practice.