Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35468169›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

Considerations in evaluating equipment-free blood culture bottles: A short protocol for use in low-resource settings.

Sien Ombelet, Alessandra Natale, Jean-Baptiste Ronat, Olivier Vandenberg, Jan Jacobs, Liselotte Hardy

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Sien OmbeletDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-4943-0736
Alessandra NataleMédecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France.
Jean-Baptiste RonatMédecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France.
Olivier VandenbergCenter for Environmental Health and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.
Jan JacobsDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
Liselotte HardyDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-8785-5081
Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde · BEInserm · FRMédecins Sans Frontières · FRUniversité Libre de Bruxelles · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Use of equipment-free, "manual" blood cultures is still widespread in low-resource settings, as requirements for implementation of automated systems are often not met. Quality of manual blood culture bottles currently on the market, however, is usually unknown. An acceptable quality in terms of yield and speed of growth can be ensured by evaluating the bottles using simulated blood cultures. In these experiments, bottles from different systems are inoculated in parallel with blood and a known quantity of bacteria. Based on literature review and personal experiences, we propose a short and practical protocol for an efficient evaluation of manual blood culture bottles, aimed at research or reference laboratories in low-resource settings. Recommendations include: (1) practical equivalence of horse blood and human blood; (2) a diverse selection of 10 to 20 micro-organisms to be tested (both slow- and fast-growing reference organisms); (3) evaluation of both adult and pediatric bottle formulations and blood volumes; (4) a minimum sample size of 120 bottles per bottle type; (5) a formal assessment of usability. Different testing scenarios for increasing levels of reliability are provided, along with practical tools such as worksheets and surveys that can be used by laboratories wishing to evaluate manual blood culture bottles.

Indexed as

BacteriaBlood CultureAnimalsChildCulture MediaHorsesHumansReproducibility of ResultsCulture Media

Identifiers

PMID35468169
PMCPMC9037908
OpenAlexW4224640172

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.