Serrating through vascular access catheters: a great masquerader with severe systemic manifestations.

Deliwala, Smit Sunil; Hussain, Murtaza; Ponnapalli, Anoosha; Awuah, Dominic; McDonald, Philip; Bachuwa, Ghassan

Serratia marcescens, time and again, has demonstrated its ability to easily adhere and infect vascular access catheters, making them a bona fide source of hospital outbreaks and contributing to adverse patient outcomes. We present a unique case of a severe recurrent Serratia infection, leading to persistent bacteria in the blood, haematogenous dissemination and subsequent development of abscesses, to a degree not reported in the literature before. These infections are exceedingly challenging to eradicate, owing to multiple virulence mechanisms and the deep seeding ability of this microorganism. Serratia infections require a multifaceted approach with intricacies in identification, therapeutics and surveillance, all of which are sparsely reported in the literature and reviewed in this report.