title: Controlled clinical comparison of new pediatric medium with adsorbent polymeric beads (PF Plus) versus charcoal-containing PF medium in the BacT/alert blood culture system.
abstract: We conducted a controlled clinical comparison of PF Plus, the new pediatric medium with adsorbent polymeric beads, versus the charcoal-containing PF medium in the BacT/Alert blood culture system. A total of 2,381 pediatric cultures were enrolled, and 1,703 (71.5%) were deemed to be compliant and acceptable for analysis. Seventy-two cultures (4.2%) had a positive result with 80 clinically significant microorganisms. The results showed that the PF Plus medium yielded more clinically significant microorganisms than the BacT/Alert system (P < 0.05). In addition, the PF Plus bottle yielded positive results an average of 5.0 h earlier than the PF bottle for compliant clinically significant cultures (18.3 h versus 23.2 h, P = 0.004). PF Plus is an improved medium for detecting microorganisms that cause pediatric bloodstream infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, Virginia, USA cdoern@mcvh-vcu.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Doern
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mirrett
authors.affiliation: Jacksonville Pathology Consultants, P.A. Baptist Medical Center/Wolfson Children's Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Halstead
authors.affiliation: Baptist Medical Center/Wolfson Children's Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abid
authors.affiliation: Children's Medical Center and Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: L Barth
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Reller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media