Serratia Marcescens Research Paper

Serratia marcescens is a gram-negative rod shaped bacteria that is ubiquitous in the environment. S. marcescens is a member of the genus Serratia, which is a part of the family Enterobacteriaceae (Herra 1). Currently 14 species of Serratia are recognized within the genus, eight of which are associated with human infection, S. marcescens being the most common clinical isolate and the most important human pathogen of the genus (Herra 1). Serratia marcescens is also particularly prevalent in hospital patients and is intrinsically resistant to antimicrobials such as polymyxins, cephalosporins and nitrofurans (McGraw 1). Although viruses, fungi and bacteria are always present in the human body, infection occurs as a result of some alteration in
The term antiseptic refers to a substance that inhibits the growth and development of microorganisms that has potential to cause sepsis in wounds. With the emergence of antibiotic resistance, there has been a reappraisal of the use of povidone iodine especially in the management of contaminated and infected wounds (Khan 6). Povidine iodine contains polyvinylpyrrolidone iodine, which is a water soluble complex of elements iodine with a synthetic polymer (Khan 6). The most common ways to clean a wound involves swabbing and the use of either rubbing alcohol, iodine, salines, tap water or hydrogen peroxide (Khan
Because of the lack of sporicidal activity, alcohols are not recommended for sterilization but are widely used for both hard surface disinfection an skin antisepsis (McDonald 151). Generally, the antimicrobial activity of alcohols is significantly lower at concentrations below 50% and is optimal in the 60% to 90% range (McDonald 151). Contrastingly the antimicrobial action of iodine is rapid, even at low concentrations, but the exact mode of action is unknown. Iodine rapidly penetrates into microorganisms and attacks key groups or proteins, nucleotides and fatty acids, which culminates in cell death (McDonald 155). Meanwhile Hydrogen Peroxide demonstrates broad-spectrum efficacy against viruses, bacteria,yeasts, and bacterial spores which is seen mainly in gram-positive than gram-negative bacteria such as S. marcescens (McDonald