Ah. Huang et al., COMPARISON OF 5 DAYS VERSUS 7 DAYS OF INCUBATION FOR DETECTION OF POSITIVE BLOOD CULTURES BY THE BACTEC-9240 SYSTEM, European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases, 17(9), 1998, pp. 637-641
The specimen capacity of blood culture systems is determined by the le
ngth of time that blood cultures are incubated. Since the patient popu
lations served by hospitals vary, individual laboratories should evalu
ate the relative cost and benefits of different testing regimens for t
heir particular setting. To be cost-effective, the use of a 5-day rath
er than a 7-day protocol for the Bactec 9240 system (Becton Dickinson
Diagnostic Instrument Systems, USA) has been recommended. To evaluate
whether the shorter schedule would be appropriate at the Microbiology
Laboratory at the National Cheng Kung University Medical Center in Tai
nan, Taiwan, the yield from 5 days versus 7 days of incubation was com
pared using a total of 9653 blood specimens collected from 1 April to
30 September 1997. Of the 1848 positive vials, 1822 (98.6%) were posit
ive in the first 5 testing days; only 26 (1.4%) were positive on day 6
or 7. Only five of the latter vials were judged to contain clinically
significant organisms: one Cryptococcus neoformans, one Candida albic
ans, one Enterobacter cloacae, one Klebsiella pneumoniae, and one Prot
eus mirabilis. Two vials contained organisms whose clinical significan
ce was categorized as unknown, while 19 contained organisms that were
considered contaminants. These data suggest that, for the laboratory s
tudied, the 5-day protocol for the Bactec 9240 system is more cost-eff
ective than the 7-day protocol and is adequate for detection of positi
ve blood cultures.