Standardized surveillance of blood culture contamination rates: moving toward a universal standard

Abstract

Blood culture contamination (BCC) is a major healthcare challenge with no standardized process to monitor and report rates by individual healthcare facilities in the United States. A new study by V. Fabre, Y.- J. Hsu, K. C. Caroll, A. M. Milstone, et al. (J Clin Microbiol 63:e0053025, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00530-25) characterizes blood culture contamination rates, surveillance methods, reporting practices, and preventative strategies across 52 centers in the United States. The study highlights a need for standardized surveillance metrics and target thresholds within and across hospitals to help facilitate accurate benchmarking, provide feedback on existing processes, support antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship efforts, and allocate resources to reduce BCC events.