Bacteria-Tainted Syringes Linked to Blood Infections in the U.S.

The U.S. media has reported an investigation by officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into numerous cases of people falling sick due to use of infected medical syringes.

Media reports suggested at least 40 people had taken sick in Texas and Illinois, 20 of whom were outpatients at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Media reports further said no deaths have been reported so far.

Doctors at Rush University Medical Center have been able to trace the source of the illness to a batch of syringes filled with heparin. Heparin is a naturally occurring organic compound primarily used as an anticoagulant.

Heparin is a blood thinner, basically, and is primarily used in the medical field to prevent catheters and intravenous lines from clotting. The syringes tainted with heparin were used to wash out the catheters and also intravenous lines that were mostly used for home treatment purposes, to treat cancer and other illnesses.

According to doctors, patients could possibly have been infected after the intravenous lines they were using were flushed with the tainted syringes. The bacteria present in the infected syringes have been identified as Serratia marcescens (pronounced sur-AY'-she-uh mar-SUH'-sens).

So far, while there has been some progress in the case, what remains unclear is the exact source of the infection. Doctors and investigating officials have not been able to determine where the bacteria were originally present in, i.e., the original source of the infection – the heparin, the syringes themselves, or the saline solution used for dilution.

The syringes themselves have been identified as belonging to a batch manufactured by a Sierra Pre-Filled, a company based out of North Carolina. The company has agreed to cooperate with the federal authorities investigating the case. They have recalled the tainted batch in question – 070926H. The president of Sierra Pre-Filled, Dushyant Patel, said, “There’s nothing out there anymore.”

Dr. Arjun from the CDC said that so far, cases had been reported only from Texas and Illinois, though syringes from the infected batch had found their way to other states as well, including Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Florida. He also said the CDC would be genetically fingerprinting the bacteria to try and link the bacteria found in the syringes to the patients.

Sources say though the infections have not proved to be lethal so far, they can cause general discomfort to the patient. A person who comes in contact with the bacteria could develop fever and chills. While the illness can be serious, doctors say it responds well to antibiotics.