Wound and soft tissue infections of Serratia marcescens in patients receiving wound care: A health care–associated outbreak

We described a health care–associated Serratia marcescens outbreak of wound and soft tissue infection lasting approximately 11 months at Ankara University Ibni Sina Hospital. After identification of S marcescens strains from the clinical and environmental samples, and their susceptibility testing to antimicrobial agents, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed to detect molecular epidemiologic relationships among these isolates. The strains which were isolated from the saline bottles used for wound cleansing in the wound care unit were found to be 100% interrelated by PFGE to the strains from the samples of the outbreak patients. Reuse of the emptied bottles has no longer been allowed since the outbreak occurred. Besides, more efficient and frequent infection control training for hospital staff has been conducted.