title: Obtaining the best in blood cultures.
abstract: Blood cultures remain the "gold standard" for confirming bacteraemia/septicaemia and identifying causative organisms. The yield is maximised when strict procedure guidelines for collection and incubation are followed and laboratory/clinical data are properly correlated. This write up addresses several issues of clinical and technical importance in blood culturing which will help increase diagnostic yield.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Akujobi
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control; D013048:Specimen Handling