The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 13, Issue 2 333-339, Copyright © 1980 by Society for General Microbiology
Distribution of Serratia marcescens serotypes in cancer patients
V. M. Young, M. R. Moody and M. J. Morris
A study of 1314 patients with malignancies was made to determine the
prevalence of Serratia marcescens in surveillance, diagnostic, and
environmental cultures. Sera obtained from a commercial source were used to
determine serotypic distributions of the S. marcescens strains isolated
during a 51-month period. S. marcescens was isolated from 19% of patients
with haematological neoplasms, from 5% of patients with lymphoma, and from
6% of those with solid tumours. Among carriers, rectal cultures were the
commonest source in patients with lymphoma (32%); rectal and gingival
cultures in patients with leukaemia (43% and 39%, respectively), and
gingival cultures in patients with solid tumours (30%). Bacteraemias (.07%)
were infrequent sources. Although seldom isolated from environmental or
food samples, S. marcescens may occasionally be abundant in fresh fruit and
vegetables. Serotyping of 220 strains of S. marcescens demonstrated 38
distinct antigenic types. The predominant serotype, O14:H12, was present in
the upper respiratory tract of half of the persons who carried this
serotype. Serotyping is a readily reproducible method of subspeciating S.
marcescens; it can be satisfactorily used as an epidemiological tool.
