Faculty Collaboration Database

Assessing the need for anaerobic medium for the recovery of clinically significant blood culture isolates in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1994 Mar;13(3):203-6

Date

03/01/1994

Pubmed ID

8177628

DOI

10.1097/00006454-199403000-00007

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028255917 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   38 Citations

Abstract

We examined the sensitivity of several BACTEC media options for the detection of bacteremia and fungemia in children at two pediatric health care facilities. At one institution a single aerobic bottle containing PEDS Plus medium was as sensitive in identifying positive blood cultures as the combination of aerobic and anaerobic media (77% vs. 80%; P = 1.0). When data from both facilities were combined, a blood culture set containing both aerobic and anaerobic media detected significantly more positive blood cultures than any single aerobic medium. However, the aerobic/anaerobic bottle combination was not significantly better than a blood culture set containing two aerobic media and, in absolute terms, the latter identified more cases of bacteremia. Of the 116 clinically significant episodes of bacteremia identified in this study, only 1 was caused by an anaerobic bacterium. We conclude that the routine use of anaerobic media for blood cultures of pediatric patients might be unnecessary but that the use of two different aerobic media could increase the sensitivity of the BACTEC blood culture system.

Author List

Dunne WM Jr, Tillman J, Havens PL

Author

Peter Havens MD Emeritus Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Anaerobiosis
Bacteremia
Bacteria
Candida
Child
Culture Media
Enterobacter cloacae
Fungemia
Humans
Porphyromonas
Retrospective Studies
Sensitivity and Specificity
Staphylococcus aureus