Bacteria-Tainted Syringes Sicken Dozens

Source: ABC News/AP

Federal health officials said Tuesday they are investigating dozens of blood infections in at least two states that have been linked to medical syringes contaminated with bacteria.

About 40 people have been sickened in Illinois and Texas, including 20 outpatients from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. No deaths were reported.

Rush doctors traced the infections earlier this month to heparin-filled syringes the patients used during home treatment for cancer and other ailments. Heparin is a blood thinner, and the syringes are used to clear out catheters and intravenous lines.

The infections were caused by bacteria called Serratia marcescens (pronounced Sur-AY'-she-uh mar-SUH'-sens), found in a single batch of heparin-filled syringes made in Angier, N.C., by a company called Sierra Pre-Filled.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/wireStory?id=4022837

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Ewwww! Wonder if they were really made in N.C.?

...different company."

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=106&sid=1312666

Because I'm thinking, I don't know why, China.

<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=heparin+china+manufacture&btnG=Google+Search>

It's a bright pinkish red bacteria that grows prolifically on a petri dish--you have to be careful if you're trying to grow it with other bacteria as it will just about take over. I could be remembering incorrectly, but I believe it's a gram-negative bacillus (gram-negative refers to the make-up of the cell wall; gram positive bacteria have a tougher cell wall and tend to be cause more severe infections/and bacillus refers to the shape of the bacteria, which is sort of an oblong ovular shape...like a pill--thank you introductory microbiology). At the time I studied it, however, it wasn't really a common pathogen, though there were occasional cases of its being harmful. That was a year or two ago and I don't know how prevalent harmful strains of it are.

On edit: I looked it up and found out that S. marcescens has more history as a pathogen than I thought. It's common in urinary- and upper respiratory tract infections, and because of its prevalence, hardiness, and preference for moist environments it is frequently found in what we like to think of as "sterile" environments.

I do wildlife rehab and had an opossum with it. It took forever to get rid of. It was resistant to almost everything when grown out in a c and s.

Sloppy and so unnecessary.