Clinical impact of blood cultures contaminated with coagulase-negative staphylococci at an academic medical center

Yuri F van der Heijden; Geraldine Miller; Patty W Wright; Bryan E Shepherd; Titus L Daniels; Thomas R Talbot

doi:10.1086/660096

Clinical impact of blood cultures contaminated with coagulase-negative staphylococci at an academic medical center

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2011 Jun;32(6):623-5. doi: 10.1086/660096.

Authors

Yuri F van der Heijden¹, Geraldine Miller, Patty W Wright, Bryan E Shepherd, Titus L Daniels, Thomas R Talbot

Affiliation

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. yuri.vanderheijden@vanderbilt.edu

PMID: 21558778
DOI: 10.1086/660096

Abstract

Of all blood cultures positive for coagulase-negative staphylococci collected in 1 year at an academic hospital, 100 were selected randomly for review and designated true positives or contaminated. For the 85 patients whose cultures were determined to be contaminated, chart abstractions revealed substantial unnecessary antibiotic administration, additional laboratory tests and procedures, and hospital readmissions.

MeSH terms

Academic Medical Centers
Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
Bacteremia / diagnosis*
Bacteremia / drug therapy
Bacteremia / microbiology
Blood Specimen Collection
Coagulase / biosynthesis
False Positive Reactions
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Staphylococcal Infections / diagnosis*
Staphylococcal Infections / drug therapy
Staphylococcal Infections / microbiology
Staphylococcus* / enzymology
Staphylococcus* / isolation & purification
Unnecessary Procedures*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Coagulase