title: [Usefulness of micro-organism counts in positive haemocultures (author's transl)].
abstract: In patients with positive haemoculture counting the number of micro-organisms per ml of blood can be of interest for both diagnosis and prognosis. Contamination is practically excluded when values exceed 20 organisms/ml, and bacteraemia when they exceed 500 organisms/ml. Generally, the higher the count the greater the likelihood of septicaemia. Values lower than 2 organisms/ml correspond in most cases to Gram-negative infections. Excluding the latter, which carry a high lethal risk, the mortality rate in septicaemia increases with the number of micro-organisms in the blood.
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D018805:Sepsis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality
vernacular_title: Intérêt du comptage de germes pour l'interprétation d'une hémoculture positive.