Research work · 2019
Blood cultures
Medical Microbiology
Abstract
This chapter focuses on blood cultures, which are extremely important clinical samples that are requested by clinicians when the signs and symptoms suggest the possibility of bacteraemia or septicaemia. Because of the importance of obtaining rapid results with blood cultures, this is one area of microbiology where automation is commonplace. The chapter then explores the different blood culture methods, outlining the procedures for sample taking, transport, and processing. A blood culture involves taking a sample of blood from a patient and inoculating the blood into a blood culture bottle; the bottle is then transported to the laboratory for incubation. The chapter explains the different procedures for dealing with negative and positive bottles. It also looks at bacterial pathogens, false-positive results, and specialized testing for endocarditis.