J Mycol Infect.  2021 Mar;26(1):17-20. 10.17966/JMI.2021.26.1.17.

Skin Infection Caused by Serratia marcescens in a Patient with Diabetes Mellitus

• Lee DH
• Jang DH
• Park MY
• Ahn J
• Jung HJ

• KMID: 2517353
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17966/JMI.2021.26.1.17

Abstract

Serratia marcescens is an uncommon gram-negative bacterium strain that does not cause skin infections in healthy individuals. However, it is rarely reported as the causative agent of infection in immunosuppressed patients or in nosocomial infections. A 51-year-old man was admitted to a hospital presenting with pus and pain that had developed a month ago on a hypertrophic scar area of the back. Although he was on medication for diabetes mellitus, his blood sugar level was poorly controlled. In addition, two months earlier, he received an intralesional injection of 40 mg/mL triamcinolone twice for the hypertrophic scar of the back. S. marcescens was identified in the wound culture. His condition improved after ceftriaxone administration, debridement, and split-thickness skin grafts. Although S. marcescens is an infrequent cause of skin infections, it is important to remember that it may cause infection in some patients and that the course of the disease may be worse than that in a typical skin infection with poor prognosis.

Keyword

Cutaneous infection; Serratia marcescens