title: Clinical assessment of anaerobic isolates from blood cultures.
abstract: Patients at two tertiary-care medical centers were evaluated to determine the clinical significance of anaerobic isolates from their blood specimens and to identify whether aerobic and/or anaerobic conditions were necessary for the detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates. Significant anaerobes were isolated from only 0.1% and 0.4% of all blood cultures collected. The majority of patients with significant anaerobes had clinical conditions in which anaerobes are known to cause infections. Of the S. pneumoniae organisms, 83% were isolated only from the aerobic bottles of a blood culture set. These data lend support to the recommendations for the selective ordering of anaerobic blood cultures without compromising the isolation of S. pneumoniae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL 33140.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Spanos
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Poppiti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*