Technical improvements in culturing blood

Abstract

Blood culture is a laboratory test where a blood specimen, taken from a patient, is inoculated into bottles containing culture media to determine if infection-causing microorganisms (bacteria or fungi) have invaded the patient’s bloodstream. This test is an important investigation with major implications for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with bloodstream infections and possible sepsis. Moreover, blood culture will also provide the etiologic agent for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, enabling optimization of antibiotic therapy with signifi cant impact on the outcome of the disease. Even if the potential benefi ces of blood culture are well known, critical factors mainly in pre- and post-analytical phases can reduce the clinical value of this test.