ArticleBMC infectious diseases2005
Blood cultures in ambulatory outpatients.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Drawing conclusions: blood culture yield across clinical scenarios in hematologic malignancy.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Every Crisis Is an Opportunity: Advancing Blood Culture Stewardship During a Blood Culture Bottle Shortage.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Effect of Prior Antibiotic Treatment on Blood Culture in an Outpatient Department of General Internal Medicine: A Retrospective Case-Control Analysis.International journal of general medicine · 2023Article
- Longitudinal evaluation of risk factors and outcomes of blood stream infections due toEClinicalMedicine · 2021Article
- Eosinopenia as a diagnostic marker of bloodstream infection in a general internal medicine setting: a cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Article
- Article
- The Validation of a Novel Surveillance System for Monitoring Bloodstream Infections in the Calgary Zone.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2016Article
- Population-based laboratory assessment of the burden of community-onset bloodstream infection in Victoria, Canada.Epidemiology and infection · 2013Article
- Factors associated with positive blood cultures in outpatients with suspected bacteremia.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2011Article
- Rationale for and protocol of a multi-national population-based bacteremia surveillance collaborative.BMC research notes · 2009Article
- Burden of community-onset bloodstream infection: a population-based assessment.Epidemiology and infection · 2007Article
- Secular trends of antimicrobial resistance of blood isolates in a newly founded Greek hospital.BMC infectious diseases · 2006Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBlood cultures are a gold standard specific test for diagnosing many infections. However, the low yield may limit their usefulness, particularly in low-risk populations. This study was conducted to assess the utility of blood cultures drawn from ambulatory outpatients.
methodsBlood cultures drawn at community-based collection sites in the Calgary Health Region (population 1 million) in 2001 and 2002 were included in this study. These patients were analyzed by linkages to acute care health care databases for utilization of acute care facilities within 2 weeks of blood culture draw.
results3102 sets of cultures were drawn from 1732 ambulatory outpatients (annual rate = 89.4 per 100,000 population). Significant isolates were identified from 73 (2.4%) sets of cultures from 51 patients, including Escherichia coli in 18 (35%) and seven (14%) each of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Compared to patients with negative cultures, those with positive cultures were older (mean 49.6 vs. 40.1 years, p < 0.01), and more likely to subsequently receive care at a regional emergency department, outpatient antibiotic clinic, or hospital (35/51 vs. 296/1681, p < 0.0001). Of the 331 (19%) patients who received acute care treatment, those with positive cultures presented sooner after community culture draw (median 2 vs. 3 days, p < 0.01) and had longer median treatment duration (6 vs. 2 days, p < 0.01).
conclusionBlood cultures drawn in outpatient settings are uncommonly positive, but may define patients for increased intensity of therapy. Strategies to reduce utilization without excluding patients with positive cultures need to be developed for this patient population.
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