The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alabama Department of Public Health are investigating an outbreak of the bacteria Serratia marcescens at five Birmingham-area hospitals and one in Prattville. Nineteen patients tested positive for the infection and nine of those died. Most of the infections occurred around the middle of March, but one case was in January and one in February, said Mary McIntyre at the state health department.
Officials linked the infection to TPN, a common nutritional supplement delivered directly from the plastic bags into the bloodstream through IV tubes. A single pharmacy, Birmingham-based Meds IV, made the bags. The company has notified its customers of the contamination and has discontinued production.
Serratia marcescens bacteria grow in moist areas and can settle in hospital patients' respiratory and urinary tracts. The bacteria is common and easily treatable if detected early. Patients with serratia sepsis may have fever, chills, shock, and respiratory distress. The CDC in 2005 identified the bacteria as causing blood stream infections in about a dozen patients in New Jersey and California that were treated with contaminated salt solutions administered through IVs from similar bags.
