title: A comparison of two blood culture procedures for the isolation of staphylococci in a paediatric intensive care unit.
abstract: Blood culture results obtained between January 2000 and July 2003 were reviewed for 1360 patients in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The BacT/Alert FA aerobic medium was used with a blood volume of 1.5 mL for the first 23 months, and the BacT/Alert PF paediatric medium was used with a 0.5-mL volume for the remaining 18 months. The isolation rates were similar during both periods (13.4% vs. 13.1%), and staphylococci were the most common isolates (72.8%). There was a shorter time to detection of staphylococci with the smaller-volume (PF) procedure, which thus seems suitable for use in the diagnosis of staphylococcal bacteraemia in the PICU.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Immunocompromised Host, Gaslini Children's Hospital, Genoa, Italy. labospimm@ospedale-gaslini.ge.it
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Belli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ugolotti
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fenu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mantero
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003470:Culture Media; D046508:Culture Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media