Brief Answer: serratia marcescens,opportunistic pathogen... Detailed Answer: Hi, Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic microbe, commonly found in the environment. It is possible for the infection to take place. Suspection could arise if you have the following symptoms: - fever - chills - sepsis - vomiting or any other unusual symptom you might be experiencing. Once you notice them, can consult your Dr. for further tests. Apart blood and urine work, the doctor will ask for a blood culture to identify this pathogen. Hope it answered to your question! Dr.Bardha! p.s. if you have more concerns, feel free to ask me again!

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Brief Answer: Serratia marcescens,weak immune system... Detailed Answer: Hi, Serratia marcescents is an opportunistic pathogens, it cannot cause infection commonly, but under certain conditions. It is mostly found in hospitals, known also as a common nosocomial infection In your case, the most probable "gate-of-entering" is through any wound you might have in your gums. However, chances are that you cannot develop Serratia bacteremia (spread of microbe in the bloodstream) as long as your immune system is healthy and/or you are not suffering from any other disease. This is because the infection is more common among those with low immune system, such as hospitalized patients or HIV individuals. Although the body tends to fight such infections, the culture of blood or urine or other body tissue swab for Serratia is necessary for the right diagnosis and treatment. Hope it answered to your questions! Feel free to ask other questions if you have any! Dr.Bardha

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Brief Answer: Please refer to the answer below... Detailed Answer: Hi again, With regards to your first question, which refers to incubation period, in fact, it is being considered as "unknown" until now. This is because this bacteria was considered as a "harmless" until outbreaks appear, especially in hospitalized patients. Indeed, these patients have shown signs of complications where Serratia were isolated. As I mentioned earlier, the more compromised the immunity of a person is, the higher the chances to get Serratia symptoms are. Please bare in mind that the symptoms are not typical as for Serratia, but they are related to the complications (urinary, lungs, brain, etc). So, if you notice one of them, once you are at your doctor's clinic, tell him/her about your history of using "infected water". Hope it answered to your inquiries! If you do have more questions, I'd be glad to assist you further. Otherwise, if you do not have more clarifications, I'd gently remind to close this thread and rate my answer. Dr.Bardha

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