Evaluating blood culture collection practice in children hospitalized with acute illness at a tertiary hospital in Malawi

Background Blood culture collection practice in low-resource settings where routine blood culture collection is available has not been previously described. Methodology We conducted a secondary descriptive analysis of children aged 2-23 months enrolled in the Malawi Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) study, stratified by whether an admission blood culture had been undertaken and by nutritional status. Chi-square test was used to compare the differences between groups. Results A total of 347 children were included, of whom 161 (46%) had a blood culture collected. Children who had a blood culture collected, compared to those who did not, were more likely to present with sepsis (43% vs. 20%, p<0.001), gastroenteritis (43% vs. 26%, p