Blood Culture Health Article

Definition

A blood culture is done when a person has symptoms of a blood infection, also called bacteremia. Blood is drawn from the person one or more times and is tested in a laboratory to find and identify any microorganism present and growing in the blood. If a microorganism is found, more testing is done to determine the antibiotics that will be effective in treating the infection.

Purpose

Bacteremia is a serious clinical condition and can lead to death. To give the best chance for effective treatment and survival, a blood culture is done as soon as an infection is suspected.

Symptoms of bacteremia are fever, chills, mental confusion, anxiety, rapid heart beat, hyperventilation, blood clotting problems, and shock. These symptoms are especially significant in a person who already has another illness or infection, is hospitalized, or has trouble fighting infections because of a weak immune system. Often, the blood infection results from an infection somewhere else in the body that has now spread.

Additionally, blood cultures are done to find the causes of other infections. These include bacterial pneumonia (an infection of the lung), and infectious endocarditis (an infection of the inner layer of the heart). Both of these infections leak bacteria into the blood.

After a blood infection has been diagnosed, confirmed by culture, and treated, an additional blood culture may be done to make sure the infection is gone.

Culture strategies

There are many variables involved in performing a blood culture. Before the person's blood is drawn, the physician must make several decisions based on a knowledge of infections and the person's clinical condition and medical history.

Several groups of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, mold, and yeast, can cause blood infections. The bacteria group can be further broken down into aerobes and anaerobes. Most aerobes do not need oxygen to live. They can grow with oxygen (aerobic microbes) or without oxygen (anaerobic microbes).

Based on the clinical condition of the patient, the physician determines what group of microorganisms is likely to be causing the infection and then orders one or more specific types of blood culture, including aerobic, anaerobic, viral, or fungal (for yeasts and molds). Each specific type of culture is handled differently by the laboratory. Most blood cultures test for both aerobic and anaerobic microbes. Fungal, viral, and mycobacterial blood cultures can also be done, but are less common.

The physician must also decide how many blood cultures should be done. One culture is rarely enough, but two to three are usually adequate. Four cultures are occasionally required. Some factors influencing this decision are the specific microorganisms the physician expects to find based on the person's symptoms or previous culture results, and whether or not the person has had recent antibiotic therapy.

The time at which the cultures are to be drawn is another decision made by the physician. During most blood infections (called intermittent bacteremia) microorganisms enter the blood at various time intervals. Blood drawn randomly may miss the microorganisms. Since microorganisms enter the blood 30–90 minutes before the person's fever spikes, collecting the culture just after the fever spike offers the best likelihood of finding the microorganism. The second and third cultures may be collected at the same time, but from different places on the person, or spaced at 30-minute or one-hour intervals, as the physician chooses. During continuous bacteremia, such as infective endocarditis, microorganisms are always in the blood and the timing of culture collection is less important. Blood cultures should always be collected before antibiotic treatment has begun.