Comparison of the BacT/Alert PF pediatric FAN blood culture bottle with the standard pediatric blood culture bottle, the Pedi-BacT

The performance of the BacT/Alert PF (Organon-Teknika Corp., Durham, N.C.), a new nonvented pediatric FAN blood culture bottle, was compared to that o f the original pediatric bottle, the Pedi-BacT, with matched aerobic cultur es obtained from two separate facilities. A total of 244 clinically signifi cant isolates were recovered from 4,015 compliant pairs. Among the positive cultures, 170 (70%) isolates were detected in both the BacT/Alert PF and t he Pedi-BacT bottles, while 47 (19%) isolates were recovered in the BacT/Al ert PIT bottle only and 27 (11%) isolates were recovered in the Pedi-BacT b ottle only. Although isolation of specific microorganisms was comparable fo r the two bottles, the total number of organisms recovered by the BacT/Aler t PF was greater than that by the Pedi-BacT (P = 0.0272). In addition, more organisms were recovered by the BacT/Alert PF bottle from the blood of pat ients receiving antimicrobial therapy (P = 0.0180). Overall time to detecti on was similar for the two bottles; however, a significantly decreased mean time to detection was recorded for yeast from the BacT/Alert PF bottle (22 .9 h; P = 0.0001) and staphylococci from the Pedi-BacT bottle (22.5 h; P = 0.0056). One false-negative culture and five false-positive cultures occurr ed with the Pedi-BacT bottle, compared to one false-positive culture with t he BacT/Alert PF bottle. The BacT/Alert PF bottle is a reliable blood cultu re bottle for pediatric blood culture specimens and may offer improved reco very of microbes from patients on antimicrobial therapy. The use of the non vented bottle will both facilitate bottle processing and decrease expenditu res for materials due to the elimination of the venting needles required fo r the original vented bottles.