Increase in the diagnosis of mycobacteremia after the implementation of semi-automated blood culture at a Brazilian public health laboratory

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of hematogenous dissemination of mycobacteria is high in immunosuppressed patients. The isolation of mycobacteria in culture remains the standard procedure. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on the results of solid (Löwenstein–Jensen medium) and semi-automated liquid (BACTEC 9240) blood cultures, obtained from the Lacen-GO database. Results: The implementation of a semi-automated procedure resulted in an increase of 61.5% and 350.0% in the positive results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous mycobacteria, respectively. This technique also accelerated the detection of positive results. Conclusions: Semi-automated liquid blood culture showed a better performance in the diagnosis of mycobacteremia.