Blood Cultures and Clinical Significance

The detection of a microorganism in the blood of a patient is not only important for diagnosis but also important in terms of therapy and prognosis. Bacteria can persist in three manners in blood; transiently, intermitantly or continuously. To provide a benefit from blood cultures several points have to be considered including skin antisepsis, timing and frequency of culture, amount of blood taken, contents of culture media and culture method used. In addition, patient with immunodeficiency or intravascular catheter needs to be carefully evaluated. Every positive blood culture may not be clinically significant. Especially, in interpretation of skin flora elements, evaluation only made by taking into account the number of cultures taken may not be significant always. Good communication between the clinician and microbiology laboratory increases the usefulness of blood cultures