Contaminated infusions as cause of nosocomial Serratia marcescens septicaemia in children (author's transl)

Abstract

At the University Children's Clinic at Munich 25 cases of Serratia marescens septicaemia (mainly bacteriocin types 18 and 44) occurred within one year, predominantly in newborns and infants. Almost all of the children were seriously ill from an underlying illness or had been operated on. Two thirds had received antibiotics before the septicaemia occurred but they were ineffective. Of a total of nine antibiotics tested against 51 Serratia marcescens strains, nalidixic acid (99% sensitivity) and amikacin (100%) proved the most effective. Main source of the septicaemia were contaminated infusions, from which in as many as 35% of cases microorganisms, usually Serratia marcescens, had been isolated. Intensive hygienic measures at once terminated this "sepsis wave".