AB154. SOH21AS122. Assessment of the use of blood cultures in the detection of bacteremia
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AB154. SOH21AS122. Assessment of the use of blood cultures in the detection of bacteremia

Kasie O’Reilly1, Mohamed El-Gamati1, James Davies1, Dermot Hehir2, Sean Johnston2, Cathal O’Sullivan3

1University of Limerick, Graduate Entry Medical School, Limerick, Ireland; 2Department of Surgery, Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, Tullamore, Ireland; 3Department of Microbiology, Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, Tullamore, Ireland

Background: Research suggests expeditious and appropriate antimicrobial therapy can reduce mortality among patients with bacteremia. However, the reliable identification of indicators for bloodstream infections (BSI) requiring treatment remains challenging. Blood culture (BCx) contamination can delay treatment, lead to unnecessary antimicrobial therapy or impaired diagnosis. Thus, the clinical indications for BCx are important for the detection of bacteremia.

Methods: All BCx taken at MRHT (1 Oct – 1 Dec 2020) were prospectively studied.

Results: A total of 543 BCx were collected. Indications associated with true positive results included: Febrile episode (>38 °C): 15 BCx (6%), Tachypnoea (>22): 12 BCx (13%), white cell count (>10×109 cells/L): 16 BCx (11%), Lactate (>2): 14 BCx (21%). Number of positive BCx results: 65 (11.9%), number of true positive: 41 (8%), number of contaminated BCx results: 24 (4%).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the current use of BCx as a diagnostic tool could be optimised and perhaps a specific protocol outlining the indications should be introduced at MRHT.

Keywords: Bacteremia; blood cultures; sepsis; pyrexia; indications

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-21-ab154
Cite this abstract as: O’Reilly K, El-Gamati M, Davies J, Hehir D, Johnston S, O’Sullivan C. SOH21AS122. Assessment of the use of blood cultures in the detection of bacteremia. Mesentery Peritoneum 2021;5:AB154.

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