Blood Culture
Stewardship effort helps PICUs sustain lower blood culture rates
More than a dozen pediatric ICUs were able to sustain reductions in blood culture rates during a 2-year period following a diagnostic stewardship effort aimed at safely improving ordering practices, researchers reported in JAMA Pediatrics.
Diversion device successfully aids in lowering blood culture contamination rates
Blood culture contamination was significantly reduced when phlebotomists used an initial specimen diversion device on patients vs. the use of traditional venipuncture, according to a recent study.
Study: Obtain blood culture before initiating antimicrobial therapy in sepsis
Among patients with severe manifestations of sepsis, the sensitivity of blood cultures decreased after initiation of empirical antimicrobial therapy, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
T2Bacteria Panel demonstrates ‘excellent’ sensitivity, specificity
ATLANTA — Researchers reported at ASM Microbe that the T2Bacteria Panel “demonstrated excellent performance” in detecting bacteremia in patients compared with blood culture.