Reduction in the processing of possible blood culture contaminants by the application of a selection criterion

Neonakis,Ioannis K.; Stafylaki,Dimitra; Spandidos,Demetrios A.

doi:10.3892/etm.2020.8935

September-2020 Volume 20 Issue 3

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September-2020 Volume 20 Issue 3

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Article Open Access

Reduction in the processing of possible blood culture contaminants by the application of a selection criterion

Authors:
- Ioannis K. Neonakis
- Dimitra Stafylaki
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
View Affiliations / Copyright

Affiliations: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71201 Heraklion, Greece, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece

Copyright: © Neonakis et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.
Pages: 2039-2042
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Published online on: June 25, 2020

https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2020.8935
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Abstract

Possible blood culture (BC) contaminants are generally considered to be skin flora species including coagulase‑negative Staphylococci (CNS), Corynebacterium species, Micrococcus species, Bacillus species and Propionibacterium acnes. Prior to October 1, 2016 all possible BC contaminants were fully processed (identification, susceptibility testing) in our laboratory. In order to reduce the laboratory workload from October 1, 2016 a possible contaminant was only processed if it was present in more than one BC pair drawn from the same patient within the same day. The two‑year study period was divided in two periods namely period A from January 1, 2016 to September 30, 2016 (first 9 months) and period B from October 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017 (last 15 months). A series of indices (INs) were calculated including among others the Working Rate IN (WR) defined as the total isolates divided to the total number of BCs submitted per month and the CNS Rate (CNSR) defined as the total number of CNS processed divided to the total number of BCs submitted per month. A 23.08% reduction in the CNSR was noted (from 3.51% in period A to 2.70% in period B) whereas the overall WR was reduced from 7.19% in period A to 6.84% in period B. Furthermore, the total number of contaminants processed per month divided to the total number of isolates processed per month was reduced from 54.50% in period A to 42.41% in period B. The reduction in the INs recorded is of great value since it was achieved by the implementation of a simple criterion easily applicable and without any cost.

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Journals

International Journal of Molecular Medicine

International Journal of Oncology

Molecular Medicine Reports

Oncology Reports

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine

Oncology Letters

Biomedical Reports

Molecular and Clinical Oncology

World Academy of Sciences Journal

International Journal of Functional Nutrition

International Journal of Epigenetics

Medicine International

Reduction in the processing of possible blood culture contaminants by the application of a selection criterion

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