Sepsis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Sepsis, including details on septicemia, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment.

Comparison of contamination rates of catheter-drawn and peripheral blood cultures.

McBryde ES, Tilse M, McCormack J

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. e.mcbryde@qut.edu.au

The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of catheter-drawn and peripheral blood cultures. Paired blood culture samples collected over a 44-month period from a 280 bed Brisbane metropolitan hospital were analysed, using standard clinical and microbiological criteria, to determine whether blood culture isolates represented true bacteraemias or contamination. Catheter-collected cultures had a specificity of 85% compared with 97% for peripheral cultures. In only two instances (0.2%) was the diagnosis of clinically significant bacteraemia made on the basis of catheter culture alone. This study concluded that catheter-collected samples are not a good test for true bacteraemia, and that peripheral cultures are more reliable when the results of the paired cultures are discordant.

Published 3 May 2005 in J Hosp Infect, 60(2): 118-21.
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