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A Typical Case of Cross-Acquisition? The Importance of Genotypic Characterization of Bacterial Strains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Abstract

A 33-year-old trauma patient died of Serratia marcescens pneumonia and septic shock. Isolates from this patient were phenotypically identical to strains isolated from the only other intensive care unit patient colonized with S marcescens. Although cross-acquisition was suspected strongly, serotyping and plasmid analysis demonstrated that the isolates were genotypically different, underscoring the importance of genotypic characterization.

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1995

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