title: Use of simulated blood cultures for time to detection comparison between BacT/ALERT and BACTEC 9240 blood culture systems.
abstract: In order to avoid the influence of pre-analytical steps, the following study was performed by using sterile blood spiked with defined loads of microorganisms as inoculum. Time-to-Detection (TTD) was evaluated for the most frequently encountered bacteria and fungi in septicemia, comparing two commercially available blood culture systems, BACTEC 9240 (Becton Dickinson) and BacT/ALERT (Organon Teknika). A specific medium, Bactec Mycosis IC/F (Becton Dickinson), was compared with the Bactec Plus Aerobic (Becton Dickinson) and FAN Aerobic (Organon Teknika) media for recovery of fungi in general and in case of mixed bacterial/fungal septicemia. The results show that the BACTEC system detects nearly all enrolled microorganisms significantly faster than the BacT/ALERT; the anaerobic vial contributes to the detection of anaerobes and facultative anaerobes and, in the case of BACTEC, shortens TTD; the Bactec Mycosis IC/F bottle shortens TTD of fungi.
authors.affiliation: U.O.Microbiologia-Ospedale di Legnano, via Candiani 2, 20025 (MI), Legnano, Italy. microbiologialegnano@ao-legnano.it
authors.forename: Egidio Francesco
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Viganò
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vasconi
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agrappi
authors.forename: Pierangelo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Clerici
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D016469:Fungemia / Q000382:microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic