title: Improving the sensitivity of blood culture for Streptococcus pneumoniae.
abstract: Isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae is jeopardized by low sensitivity of blood culture, autolysis and contamination with fast-growing organism(s). We performed an immunochromatographic (ICT) test for S. pneumoniae on chocolatized blood culture bottles and also sub-cultured contaminated bottles on a selective medium, thus identifying an additional eight and three cases, respectively, and improving the detection of pneumococcus by 23% (48% vs. 59%). Prescreening of culture bottles in a blinded fashion could rationalize the use of ICT with ~99% accuracy. These two approaches can aid microbiology laboratories in resource-poor countries to substantially improve rates of detection of S. pneumoniae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. sksaha@bangla.net
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Darmstadt
authors.forename: Aliya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naheed
authors.forename: Shams
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arifeen
authors.forename: Maksuda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Kaniz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Breiman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sack
authors.forename: Davidson
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamer
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D002845:Chromatography; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007223:Infant; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*