This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hall, K. K. Articles by Lyman, J. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hall, K. K. Articles by Lyman, J. A.

 Previous Article

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, October 2006, p. 788-802, Vol. 19, No. 4
0893-8512/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.00062-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Updated Review of Blood Culture Contamination

Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Department of Internal Medicine,¹ Division of Clinical Informatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908²

Blood culture contamination represents an ongoing source of frustration for clinicians and microbiologists alike. Ambiguous culture results often lead to diagnostic uncertainty in clinical management and are associated with increased health care costs due to unnecessary treatment and testing. A variety of strategies have been investigated and employed to decrease contamination rates. In addition, numerous approaches to increase our ability to distinguish between clinically significant bacteremia and contamination have been explored. In recent years, there has been an increase in the application of computer-based tools to support infection control activities as well as provide clinical decision support related to the management of infectious diseases. Finally, new approaches for estimating bacteremia risk which have the potential to decrease unnecessary blood culture utilization have been developed and evaluated. In this review, we provide an overview of blood culture contamination and describe the potential utility of a variety of approaches to improve both detection and prevention. While it is clear that progress is being made, fundamental challenges remain.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tavares, A., Inacio, J., Melo-Cristino, J., Couto, I. (2008). Use of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization for Rapid Identification of Staphylococci in Blood Culture Samples Collected in a Portuguese Hospital. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 3097-3100 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Qamruddin, A, Khanna, N, Orr, D (2008). Peripheral blood culture contamination in adults and venepuncture technique: prospective cohort study. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 509-513 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Inglis, T. J. J., Hodge, M., Ketharanathan, S. (2008). A hospital-wide study of the impact of introducing a personal data assistant-augmented blood culture round. J Med Microbiol 57: 43-49 [Abstract] [Full Text]