Isolation of Chromobacterium prodigiosum from empyema.

Chromobacterium prodigiosum (Serratia marcencens) is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative rod that produces a red pigment which is insoluble in water. This bacterium has generally been considered to be a saprophyte. It is usually found in water and soil and may contaminate food. There are, however, in the literature reports of cases where Chr. prodigiosum has been isolated from pathological processes in men and animals. Patterson, Banister, and Knight (1952) have described a fatal septicaemia, Aronson and Alderman (1943) and Rabinowitz and Schiffrin (1952) meningitis, Hawe and Hughes (1954) bacterial endocarditis, and Wheat, Zuckerman, and Rantz (1951) reported 11 cases of urinary tract infections due to Chr. prodigiosum. In 1913 Woodward and Clarke reported a case of a patient who had a chronic cough, probably from bronchiectasis. He brought up "bloody" sputum, but red blood cells were not found in the sputum. Cultures of the sputum grew Chr. prodigiosum. It seems obvious that the red colour of the sputum was due to the red pigment of the organism. Robinson and Woolley (1957) and Gale and Lord (1957) reported similar cases. Also Deom and Mortelmans (1953) described a fatal infection with Chr. prodigiosum in a colt.