Clinical Microbiology

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CHROMagar™ Serratia

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Packaging / Colonies appearance

For detection of Serratia marcescens

Typical Appearance of microrganisms

Serratia marcescens → blue-green to metallic blue

Order References

Please use these references when
contacting your local distributor:

5000 mL......... SM302

Product Leaflet
Instruction For Use Instruction for Use for US Customers
(Under FDA Regulatory Guidance)

For US Customers,
please download the IFU here

Material Safety Data Sheet

Medium Performance

1. Reliable: First commercially available chromogenic medium for Serratia marcescens.

2. Very high sensitivity and selectivity: more than 97 %* for Serratia marcescens.

* Data obtained from the study "Validation of Colorex™ (CHROMagar™) Serratia agar on WASP™/WASPLab™ in screening for Serratia marcescens in neonatal intensive care units using the ESwab™ » M. Gaskin, D. Yamamura, J. Korver, 2020"

3. High specificity and lower workload: The conventional media used for the detection of S. marcescens like MacConkey Agar has very poor specificity, creating an abundance of false positives. Because all lactose negative bacteria have a similar aspect than S. marcescens. On the contrary, CHROMagar^TM Serratia detect all Serratia (those pigmented or not) and allows technicians to focus on the real contaminated samples.

4. Intense green-blue colouration for easy reading, compared to conventional medium (MacConkey, TSA...).

5. Fast results particularly useful in case of sudden, dangerous outbreak of Serratia marcescens.

Medium Description

Gain flexibility using powder rather than ready to use plates: Use the entire pack, or if there is a need for a smaller number of plates, just a portion. If kept under appropriate storage temperature, CHROMagar^TM Serratia has a more than 18 months shelf life. This flexibility is essential to avoid the waste resulting from expired-unused plates.

Please refer to our notice and Material Safety data sheet for complete information about the medium.
CHROMagar™, Rambach™, AquaCHROM™ are trademarks created by Dr. A. Rambach.

Last Update: ... 2020

Focus on Serratia marcescens

Serratia species are implicated in nosocomial infections. In several countries, Serratia marcescens is frequently associated with epidemics in intensive care units and in particular in neonatal and pediatric units. Surveillance of nosocomial infections requires effective recovery of clinical isolates from faeces, wound exudates and respiratory samples to prevent problems of cross infection and potentially fatal infections. In this context, CHROMagar^TM has developed CHROMagar^TM Serratia, a culture medium perfectly suited to the search for S. marcescens in faeces.

In addition, S. marcescens is able to survive days to months on surfaces, distilled water and hand soap, making it an important pathogen in nosocomial infections and sporadic epidemics.

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