Overview

• Between August 12 and 13, two extremely premature infants born at 23 and 27 weeks gestation contracted Serratia marcescens and died of sepsis in the Bolzano NICU
• The hospital disinfected incubators, stepped up hygiene and isolation protocols and suspended new premature admissions with at-risk pregnant women redirected to Trento
• Ten neonates remaining in the intensive care unit are reported stable and no infections have been detected in the maternity ward
• The Procura di Bolzano has deputed the Carabinieri NAS to conduct preliminary checks on protocol compliance and will decide whether to authorize autopsies
• Serratia marcescens is a common opportunistic pathogen that often shows antibiotic resistance and carries mortality rates up to 44% in very preterm infants