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Assessment of the BacT/Alert blood culture system: rapid bacteremia diagnosis with loading throughout the 24 h

1998; Elsevier BV; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1469-0691.1998.tb00331.x

1469-0691

Jonas Bengtsson, Martin Wahl, Peter Larsson,

Streptococcal Infections and Treatments

ObjectiveTo determine blood culture (BC) diagnostic speed when combining an automated BC system with rapid loading of inoculated bottles throughout the 24 h.MethodsA total of 111 positive BCs representing bacteremia were investigated in retrospect. All bottles were loaded into the BacT/Alert BC system (Organon Teknika) as soon as possible after sampling and time from specimen collection to Gram stain result was recorded.ResultsThe mean time from specimen collection to loading was 3.5 h (median 2.1 h). We found that 74% of all positive BCs collected during daytime (08.00–16.00) were reported (as Gram stain) to the clinician before 17.00 the next day. For specimens collected between 16.00 and midnight the corresponding proportion was 67%. BCs drawn between midnight and 08.00 were reported before 17.00 the same day in 24% of the cases.ConclusionsRapid loading of an automated BC system throughout the 24 h results in fast diagnosis of bacteremia. The diagnostic speed in this study represents a fair estimation of the maximal diagnostic speed accomplishable in a clinical situation with the BacT/Alert system in conjunction with normal daytime laboratory working hours. To determine blood culture (BC) diagnostic speed when combining an automated BC system with rapid loading of inoculated bottles throughout the 24 h. A total of 111 positive BCs representing bacteremia were investigated in retrospect. All bottles were loaded into the BacT/Alert BC system (Organon Teknika) as soon as possible after sampling and time from specimen collection to Gram stain result was recorded. The mean time from specimen collection to loading was 3.5 h (median 2.1 h). We found that 74% of all positive BCs collected during daytime (08.00–16.00) were reported (as Gram stain) to the clinician before 17.00 the next day. For specimens collected between 16.00 and midnight the corresponding proportion was 67%. BCs drawn between midnight and 08.00 were reported before 17.00 the same day in 24% of the cases. Rapid loading of an automated BC system throughout the 24 h results in fast diagnosis of bacteremia. The diagnostic speed in this study represents a fair estimation of the maximal diagnostic speed accomplishable in a clinical situation with the BacT/Alert system in conjunction with normal daytime laboratory working hours.