| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2007 | Volume
: 25
| Issue : 3 | Page : 220-224 |
Blood cultures in paediatric patients: A study of clinical impact
DS Murty1, M Gyaneshwari2
1 Department of Microbiology, SV Medical College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
2 Department of Microbiology, Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad - 500 008, Andhra Pradesh, India
Correspondence Address:
D S Murty
Department of Microbiology, SV Medical College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0255-0857.34762
Purpose : Blood cultures form a critical part of evaluation of patients with suspected sepsis. The present study was undertaken to study the risk factors, duration of incubation for obtaining positive cultures, and the clinical impact of the culture report. Methods : A total of 220 samples from 107 pediatric patients presenting with suspected bacteraemia were processed aerobically. Results : Cultures were positive in 18.7% of the samples. Most of the positive cultures were obtained after 24 hours of incubation of the broth and no isolates were obtained beyond day 4 of incubation. Therapy was modified in 54.23% of the patients after receipt of culture report. Conclusions : Incubation beyond four days (unless with specific indication like enteric fever) may be unnecessary for issuing a negative culture report. Repeated isolation of doubtful pathogens confirms true bacteraemia. Early culture report increases therapeutic compliance.
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