What does Serratia marcescens do to you?

S. marcescens bacteria is known to cause a variety of different types of human infections, including: urinary tract infections (UTIs), respiratory tract infections, conjunctivitis, tear duct infections, and keratitis. Although extremely rare, it can also cause pneumonia and meningitis.

What does Serratia marcescens do to the body?

S. marcescens has been shown to cause a wide range of infectious diseases, including urinary, respiratory, and biliary tract infections, peritonitis, wound infections, and intravenous catheter-related infections, which can also lead to life-threatening bacteremia.

Is Serratia marcescens harmful to humans?

In rare cases, Serratia marcescens can be deadly.

Along with other bacteria, Serratia marcescens is a source of hospital-acquired infections, which can happen if a patient's immune system is severely compromised or if the bacterium enters the body with a catheter, respirator or other medical device.

What symptoms does Serratia marcescens cause?

Symptoms may include fever, frequent urination, dysuria, pyuria, or pain upon urination. In 90% of cases, patients have a history of recent surgery or instrumentation of the urinary tract.

What diseases do Serratia marcescens cause?

Well-documented infections caused by S. marcescens include pneumonia, urinary tract infection, bacteremia, biliary tract infection, wound infection, meningitis, and endocarditis. Rarely does it present as cellulitis and necrotizing fasciitis (NF), resulting in severe sepsis and multiorgan failure.

Osmosis | Serratia Marcescens

How do you get Serratia infection?

The major factors that are involved in the development of the Serratia infection include contamination of the respiratory equipment and poor catheterization techniques. Most of the outbreaks have been reported from the paediatrics ward.

How does one get infected with Serratia marcescens?

Transmission is by direct contact. Droplets of S. marcescens have been found growing on catheters, and in supposedly sterile solutions. Contaminated intravenous pain control fluids were the course of an outbreak of S.

Can Serratia make you sick?

More recently, Serratia marcescens has been found to be pathogenic to a small percentage of people, having been identified as a cause of urinary tract infections, wound infections, and pneumonia in hospital environments.

Can Serratia be cured?

Serratia marcescens is a rare agent causing peritonitis, and few cases of Serratia marcescens peritonitis in previous reports were successfully cured without removing the peritoneal catheter.

How do you get rid of Serratia marcescens infection?

Serratia infections should be treated with an aminoglycoside plus an antipseudomonal beta-lactam, as the single use of a beta-lactam can select for resistant strains. Most strains are susceptible to amikacin, but reports indicate increasing resistance to gentamicin and tobramycin.

Can pink mold make you sick?

It may not be as toxic as black mold, but pink mold has been linked to urinary tract infections, wound infections and gastrointestinal distress. It can also cause various ailments such as lung infection, rashes, allergy, and inflammation, bleeding in lungs, malaise feeling, and other respiratory troubles.

Is Serratia infection contagious?

Nosocomial transmission may occur by hand contact from hospital personnel and other patients. Fomites may also spread Serratia. INCUBATION PERIOD: Unknown. COMMUNICABILITY: Serratia may be directly transmitted from person-to-person, but rates are unknown ³.

Why is there a pink ring in my toilet bowl?

In most cases a pink residue is likely a result of airborne bacteria which produce a pinkish or dark gray film on moist surfaces. This film is usually found as a ring that accumulates at the water line in the toilet bowl or around showerheads, shower doors or curtains, sink drains, bathtubs, tiles and grout.

Can Serratia cause UTI?

There have been only a few reported human cases of infections caused by Serratia rubidae in literature. Among these sparse cases there is only one reported case of urinary tract infection (UTI) due to S. rubidae in literature. The organism is known to produce a red pigment known as prodigiosin.

Can Serratia marcescens cause diarrhea?

Serratia marcescens is incriminated in hospital-associated infections, and HIV/AIDS associated diarrhea. We have recently found that Serratia spp. may be found more commonly in the stools of patients with diarrhea than in asymptomatic control children.

Is Serratia marcescens airborne?

Serratia is an airborne bacteria and can not survive in your chlorinated water supply. These airborne bacteria can come from any number of naturally occurring sources and the condition can be aggravated if you remove chlorine using an activated carbon filter.

At what site is Serratia normally found?

It is commonly found in the respiratory and urinary tracts of hospitalized adults and in the gastrointestinal systems of children. Due to its abundant presence in the environment, and its preference for damp conditions, S.

Can Serratia marcescens cause skin infection?

The incidence of skin infections caused by Serratia marcescens is extremely low and such infections are typically observed in immunocompromised patients. The clinical manifestations of these infections include cellulitis, abscesses, fluctuant nodules, or granulomatous lesions.

Does Serratia marcescens require isolation?

As members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, Serratia spp are motile, non-endospore forming Gram-negative rods. In the laboratorySerratia are routinely isolated from bloodstream and wound sites using blood agar culture or from respiratory and urinary sites using selective culture methods.

How do you get Serratia marcescens in urine?

In 90% of cases, patients have a history of recent surgery or instrumentation of the urinary tract. Important risk factors for with Serratia urinary tract infections include diabetes mellitus, urinary tract obstruction, and renal failure.

Does Serratia marcescens cause pneumonia?

Serratia marcescens and Proteus mirabilis are Gram-negative bacteria that can cause pneumonia—an acute infection of the lower airways caused by airborne infection or by infection transferred from another part of the body via the bloodstream [1].

Why pour dish soap in your toilet?

It's pretty simple — just like they do on food particles that are stuck to your dishes in the sink, the combination of hot water and dish soap help to dissolve and break up whatever it may be that is lodged in the toilet causing a clog. This handy tip is great should you find yourself in a pinch.

Why does black stuff grow in my toilet?

Black mold can be found in your toilet bowl or tank when you have been away for even a few short days on vacation. It can also happen if there has been waste left in the bowl for a while. Since humidity and dark places are where mold thrives, your toilet bowl and tank are prime breeding ground for it.

How do you clean Serratia marcescens?

A very easy homemade mixture that you can use to clean Serratia marcescens is baking soda mixed with dish detergent (a 4:1 ratio works best). After rinsing this mixture off, continue cleaning with vinegar. Let this soak and then clean and rinse.

What antibiotics work for Serratia marcescens?

Serratia infections should be treated with an aminoglycoside plus an antipseudomonal beta-lactam, as the single use of a beta-lactam can select for resistant strains. Most strains are susceptible to amikacin, but reports indicate increasing resistance to gentamicin and tobramycin.