A typical case of cross-acquisition? The importance of genotypic characterization of bacterial strains.
A 33-year-old trauma patient died of Serratia marcescens pneumonia and septic shock. Isolates from this patient were phenotypically identical to strains isolated from the only other intensive care unit patient colonized with S marcescens. Although cross-acquisition was suspected strongly, serotyping and plasmid analysis demonstrated that the isolates were genotypically different, underscoring the importance of genotypic characterization.
Bonten
M J
MJ
Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Gaillard
C A
CA
van Tiel
F H
FH
van der Geest
S
S
Stobberingh
E E
EE
D000328:Adult; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology*; D012703:Serotyping; D016868:Serratia Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors