Usefulness of the BACTEC MYCO/F lytic system for detection of mycobacteremia in a clinical microbiology laboratory

278 BACTEC MYCO/F lytic system blood cultures for mycobacteria were evaluat ed between 1997 and 1999. Sixty of them were read as positive by the system , being considered 15 of them as false positives. Twenty-seven yielded myco bacterial growth (13 Mycobacterium avium from 3 patients and 14 Mycobacteri um tuberculosis from 8 patients). Other bacteria isolated were coagulase-ne gative Staphylococcus (13 samples), Corynebacterium sp. (5 samples), Salmon ella enteritidis (2 samples) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (1 sample). Five of these isolates were considered as true episodes of bacteremia. The average time for detection of mycobacteria was 12.6 days for M, avium and 26.4 days for M. tuberculosis. BACTEC MYCO/F lytic system is useful for detection of mycobacteremia in clinical microbiology laboratories. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.