Bacteremia Due toSerratia marcescens

In 39 episodes of bacteremia due to Serratia marcescens in 38 patients the immediate mortality was 36 per cent. Factors associated with serratia infection included previous antimicrobial therapy and underlying chronic debilitating disease. All but two of the infections were hospital acquired. Indwelling intravenous or intraperitoneal catheters and the previously instrumented urinary tract were the most frequent portals of entry. The strains isolated were nonpigmented and resistant to most antimicrobial agents, but most frequently sensitive to gentamicin or to a combination of chloramphenicol and kanamycin.