This Article 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 Daley, C Articles by Wilkinson, I Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Daley, C Articles by Wilkinson, I

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J Clin Microbiol. 1990 July; 28(7): 1586-1590

Comparative evaluation of nonradiometric BACTEC and improved oxoid signal blood culture systems in a clinical laboratory.

Division of Clinical Microbiology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia.

ABSTRACT

The BACTEC NR660 blood culture system, which uses infrared spectroscopy to detect carbon dioxide generated by bacterial growth, was compared with the new medium formulation of the Oxoid Signal system. Two trials were conducted: a comparative study of 88 organisms in simulated blood cultures and a clinical trial of 3,321 paired patient blood culture samples. Both trials showed that overall the BACTEC system performed better in the recovery of organisms. The Oxoid system was unable to detect by signal the growth of the majority of yeasts, nonfermentative gram-negative bacilli, Neisseria meningitidis, Nocardia spp., and Corynebacterium jeikeium. There were no significant differences in the yield of Staphylococcus spp., members of the family Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcus spp., or anaerobic organisms. BACTEC detected growth more quickly than did the Oxoid system; 61% of the isolates were detected by BACTEC at 24 h, while 49% of the isolates were detected by Oxoid. The Oxoid system had a high proportion (58.5%) of false-positives, compared with 7.7% for the BACTEC system. Despite the new medium formulation of the Oxoid system, its performance is still not equivalent to that of the BACTEC system.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Denton, M., Kerr, K. G. (1998). Microbiological and Clinical Aspects of Infection Associated with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 11: 57-80 [Abstract] [Full Text]