ArticlePloS one2015
Evaluating the use of blood cultures in the management of children hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Situation and questions regarding the practice of blood cultures in paediatric patients: an opinion paper.Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2026Review
- Diagnostic testing and antibiotic stewardship for pneumonia in children worldwide: current developments and next steps.Current opinion in pediatrics · 2025Review
- A qualitative investigation of paediatric intensive care staff attitudes towards the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infection in the molecular diagnostics era.Intensive care medicine. Paediatric and neonatal · 2023Article
- Blood cultures and blood microbiota analysis as surrogates for bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis in dogs with bacterial pneumonia.BMC veterinary research · 2021Article
- Value of Blood Cultures in the Management of Children Hospitalized with Community-Acquired Pneumonia.Cureus · 2020Article
- Using Machine Learning to Predict Bacteremia in Febrile Children Presented to the Emergency Department.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Two Blood Cultures With Age-Appropriate Volume Enhance Suspected Sepsis Decision-Making.Open forum infectious diseases · 2020Article
- The Usefulness of Lung Ultrasound for the Aetiological Diagnosis of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Article
- Antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens among hospitalised patients with severe invasive infections.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2018Article
- Childhood community-acquired pneumonia: A review of etiology- and antimicrobial treatment studies.Paediatric respiratory reviews · 2018Review
- Observational
- Recent Developments in Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia.Current infectious disease reports · 2016Article
- Using Quality Improvement to Change Testing Practices for Community-acquired Pneumonia.Pediatric quality & safetyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBlood cultures are often recommended for the evaluation of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, institutions vary in their use of blood cultures, and blood cultures have unclear utility in CAP management in hospitalized children.
objectiveTo identify clinical factors associated with obtaining blood cultures in children hospitalized with CAP, and to estimate the association between blood culture obtainment and hospital length of stay (LOS).
methodsWe performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study of children admitted with a diagnosis of CAP to any of four pediatric hospitals in the United States from January 1, 2011-December 31, 2012. Demographics, medical history, diagnostic testing, and clinical outcomes were abstracted via manual chart review. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated patient and clinical factors for associations with obtaining blood cultures. Propensity score-matched Kaplan-Meier analysis compared patients with and without blood cultures for hospital LOS.
resultsSix hundred fourteen charts met inclusion criteria; 390 children had blood cultures obtained. Of children with blood cultures, six (1.5%) were positive for a pathogen and nine (2.3%) grew a contaminant. Factors associated with blood culture obtainment included presenting with symptoms of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.10-2.89), receiving intravenous hydration (OR 3.94, 95% CI 3.22-4.83), receiving antibiotics before admission (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.17-1.89), hospital admission from the ED (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.05-2.60), and having health insurance (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.30-0.60). In propensity score-matched analysis, patients with blood cultures had median 0.8 days longer LOS (2.0 vs 1.2 days, P < .0001) without increased odds of readmission (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.45-1.97) or death (P = .25).
conclusionsObtaining blood cultures in children hospitalized with CAP rarely identifies a causative pathogen and is associated with increased LOS. Our results highlight the need to refine the role of obtaining blood cultures in children hospitalized with CAP.
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