IGA, Mie -- A bacterium was detected in the blood of a female patient who died after being administered with an intravenous drip at a clinic accused of sloppy hygiene control, police said.

The latest finding boosted the possibility that the female patient, Machiko Ichikawa, 73, may have died due to an in-house infection after she was given an intravenous drip at the Tanimoto Orthopedic Clinic in Iga.

Police are looking to charge the clinic with professional negligence resulting in death and injury. Police had earlier searched the clinic on June 12 on charges of professional negligence resulting in injury.

According to police, serratia bacteria were detected in the blood of Ichikawa and other patients who were hospitalized at the clinic. Serratia bacteria was also found in the residual liquid of intravenous drips used at the clinic.

Ichikawa, from Iga, died on June 10, one day after she was administered with an intravenous drip at the clinic.

Mie Prefectural Police will try to determine the relationship between the cause of Ichikawa's death and serratia bacteria that were detected in her blood. Investigators will further study if the serratia bacteria found in Ichikawa's blood was the same strain as the bacteria that was found in the blood of other patients at the clinic.

A survey by the Mie Prefectural Government earlier found that DNA samples of serratia bacteria that were found in the blood of multiple patients who were hospitalized at the clinic matched the DNA samples of the serratia bacteria that was detected in the residual liquid of intravenous drips left at the clinic.

The prefectural government has determined that the in-hospital infection was triggered by the same strain of bacteria that got mixed into the intravenous drips used at the clinic.

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