bacteremia
- BacteriologyA Diagnostic Stewardship Intervention To Improve Blood Culture Use among Adult Nonneutropenic Inpatients: the DISTRIBUTE Study
Interventions to optimize blood culture (BCx) practices in adult inpatients are limited. We conducted a before-after study evaluating the impact of a diagnostic stewardship program that aimed to optimize BCx use in a medical intensive care unit (MICU) and five medicine units at a large academic center. The program included implementation of an evidence-based algorithm detailing indications for BCx use and education and feedback to...
- BacteriologyPerformance of PCR/Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry on Whole Blood for Detection of Bloodstream Microorganisms in Patients with Suspected Sepsis
Blood culture (BC) often fails to detect bloodstream microorganisms in sepsis. However, molecular diagnostics hold great potential. The molecular method PCR/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) can detect DNA from hundreds of different microorganisms in whole blood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of this method in a multicenter study including 16 teaching hospitals in the United States (...
- BacteriologyImpact of Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing in Gram-Negative Rod Bacteremia: a Quasi-experimental Study
Clinical justification for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) in Gram-negative rod (GNR) bacteremia is compelling; however, evidence supporting its value is sparse. We investigated the impact of rapid AST on clinical and antimicrobial stewardship outcomes in real-world practice. We performed a before-and-after quasi-experimental study from February 2018 to July 2019 at a tertiary hospital of the 24-h/day, 7-day/week...
- Special Issue BacteriologyBacteremia and Blood Culture Utilization during COVID-19 Surge in New York City
A surge of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presenting to New York City hospitals in March 2020 led to a sharp increase in blood culture utilization, which overwhelmed the capacity of automated blood culture instruments. We sought to evaluate the utilization and diagnostic yield of blood cultures during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine prevalence and common etiologies of bacteremia and to inform a diagnostic approach...
- BacteriologyImpact of a Rapid Blood Culture Diagnostic Test in a Children's Hospital Depends on Gram-Positive versus Gram-Negative Organism and Day versus Night Shift
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for bloodstream infections (BSIs) decrease the time to organism identification and resistance detection. RDTs are associated with early deescalation of therapy for Gram-positive BSIs. However, it is less clear how RDTs influence antibiotic management for Gram-negative BSIs and whether RDT results are acted on during off-hours. We performed a single-center, retrospective review of children with BSI and...
- BacteriologyEffect of Clinically Meaningful Antibiotic Concentrations on Recovery of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates from Anaerobic Blood Culture Bottles with and without Antibiotic Binding Resins
Blood cultures are routinely collected in pairs of aerobic and anaerobic bottles. Artificial sterilization of Gram-negative bacteria in aerobic bottles containing clinically meaningful antibiotic concentrations has previously been observed. This study assessed recovery from anaerobic bottles with and without antibiotic binding resins.
- BacteriologyRecovery of Gram-Negative Bacteria from Aerobic Blood Culture Bottles Containing Antibiotic Binding Resins after Exposure to β-Lactam and Fluoroquinolone Concentrations
Blood culture bottles containing antibiotic binding resins are routinely used to minimize artificial sterilization in the presence of antibiotics. However, the resin binding kinetics can differ between antibiotics and concentrations.
- MinireviewDiagnosing and Managing Sepsis by Probing the Host Response to Infection: Advances, Opportunities, and Challenges
Sepsis is a major source of mortality and morbidity globally. Accurately diagnosing sepsis remains challenging due to the heterogeneous nature of the disease, and delays in diagnosis and intervention contribute to high mortality rates.
- BacteriologyDirect Identification of 80 Percent of Bacteria from Blood Culture Bottles by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry Using a 10-Minute Extraction Protocol
Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry is not widely used to identify bacteria directly from positive blood culture bottles (BCBs) because of overlong protocols. The objective of this work was to develop and evaluate a simple extraction protocol for reliable identification from BCBs.
- EpidemiologyEpidemiology and Outcomes of Nontyphoidal Salmonella Bacteremias from England, 2004 to 2015
Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) bacteremia causes hospitalization and high morbidity and mortality. We linked Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit (GBRU) data to the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set to study the trends and outcomes of NTS bacteremias in England between 2004 and 2015.