Introduction
1.1. Serratia Marcescens
Serratia marcescens is a motile, rod-shaped, gram-negative anaerobic bacillus, that is a member of the genus Serratia, which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family. It has become an important opportunistic pathogen associated with a number of life-threatening diseases and nosocomial infections (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997). S. marcescens is known to have high survival capability under hostile conditions; it is commonly found in a number of disinfectants as well as in nutrient-poor reservoirs such as drinking water, soil and/or pipes.
S. marcescens is recognised as an opportunistic pathogen due to the red pigment that it produces called Prodigiosin. It is thought to be a promising drug due to its reported …show more content…
Additionally, few cases in the past also have reported it causing skin infections; the reported incidence of cutaneous infections caused by S. marcescens is extremely low, and are predominately observed in patients who are already hospitalised, have an underlying disease/condition, have pre-damaged skin and/or are immunocompromised (Langrock et al., 2008), thus making S. marcescens mainly a nosocomial agent. Clinical manifestations of skin infections include granulomatous lesions, otitis media, peritonitis, necrotising fasciitis, nodules, cellulitis, ulcers, and dermal abscesses (Albers et al., 2001; Bryne et al., 2000; Jang et al., 2001). Nosocomial pathogens can be easily transmitted through contaminated environment, water/food and direct skin to skin …show more content…
marcescens are particularly important because of the difficulty experienced when treating them. S marcescens has an intrinsically high resistance to a broad spectrum of antibiotics, in the late 1970s S. marcescens was usually susceptible to kanamycin and always susceptible to gentamicin in vitro (Yu et al., 1979), but reports later emerged about strains that were resistant to a broad range of antibiotics, including gentamicin (Meyer et al., 1976; Yu et al., 1979) today, the literature is filled with cases of S. marcescens’ resistance to almost every class of antibiotic in use, although some are more common than the others. Prevalence varies from country to country (Wenzel et al., 2003). A group working in japan reported a recent example of multidrug resistance in S. marcescens. They reported isolated clinical strains showing a fairly high resistance to norfloxacin, streptomycin, ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and antimicrobial dyes (Chen et a., 2003). The significance of the study of how this bacterium develops resistance to antibiotics, both old and new, cannot be overemphasised. If we are to gain an upper hand in the battle against antibiotic resistance, then we have to continue to explore the mechanisms of antibiotic
1.1. Serratia Marcescens
Serratia marcescens is a motile, rod-shaped, gram-negative anaerobic bacillus, that is a member of the genus Serratia, which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family. It has become an important opportunistic pathogen associated with a number of life-threatening diseases and nosocomial infections (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997). S. marcescens is known to have high survival capability under hostile conditions; it is commonly found in a number of disinfectants as well as in nutrient-poor reservoirs such as drinking water, soil and/or pipes.
S. marcescens is recognised as an opportunistic pathogen due to the red pigment that it produces called Prodigiosin. It is thought to be a promising drug due to its reported …show more content…
Additionally, few cases in the past also have reported it causing skin infections; the reported incidence of cutaneous infections caused by S. marcescens is extremely low, and are predominately observed in patients who are already hospitalised, have an underlying disease/condition, have pre-damaged skin and/or are immunocompromised (Langrock et al., 2008), thus making S. marcescens mainly a nosocomial agent. Clinical manifestations of skin infections include granulomatous lesions, otitis media, peritonitis, necrotising fasciitis, nodules, cellulitis, ulcers, and dermal abscesses (Albers et al., 2001; Bryne et al., 2000; Jang et al., 2001). Nosocomial pathogens can be easily transmitted through contaminated environment, water/food and direct skin to skin …show more content…
marcescens are particularly important because of the difficulty experienced when treating them. S marcescens has an intrinsically high resistance to a broad spectrum of antibiotics, in the late 1970s S. marcescens was usually susceptible to kanamycin and always susceptible to gentamicin in vitro (Yu et al., 1979), but reports later emerged about strains that were resistant to a broad range of antibiotics, including gentamicin (Meyer et al., 1976; Yu et al., 1979) today, the literature is filled with cases of S. marcescens’ resistance to almost every class of antibiotic in use, although some are more common than the others. Prevalence varies from country to country (Wenzel et al., 2003). A group working in japan reported a recent example of multidrug resistance in S. marcescens. They reported isolated clinical strains showing a fairly high resistance to norfloxacin, streptomycin, ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and antimicrobial dyes (Chen et a., 2003). The significance of the study of how this bacterium develops resistance to antibiotics, both old and new, cannot be overemphasised. If we are to gain an upper hand in the battle against antibiotic resistance, then we have to continue to explore the mechanisms of antibiotic