Original Article

A Comparison of Two Versus One Blood Culture in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcus in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

¹Department of Pediatrics, Children's and Women's Health Care Center of British Columbia, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

²Department of Paediatrics, Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, UK

³Department of Paediatrics, Mayday Hospital, Croydon, UK

⁴Department of Pediatrics, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel

Correspondence to: Simon Struthers, MRCP, Consultant Pediatrician, Pediatric Department, Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Romsey Road Winchester, Hants SO22 5DG, UK

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study compares two versus one blood culture in the diagnosis and treatment of coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CONS) in babies with suspected sepsis.

STUDY DESIGN: The study was performed at British Columbia's Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between March 1999 to March 2000. One hundred pairs of cultures were drawn from two percutaneous sites from babies more than 48 hours old at the time of a sepsis screen. CONS cultured from both sites was regarded as evidence of infection. Positive culture from only one of the two sites was regarded as contaminant. The difference in rates of diagnosed CONS infection and reduction in antibiotic usage when using two versus one blood culture was calculated.

RESULTS: In 5% of babies, cultures from a second site did not substantiate the diagnosis of CONS when compared to the result from a single culture. The resultant reduction in antibiotic use was 8.2%.

CONCLUSIONS: Two blood cultures reduce the number of children diagnosed with CONS infection and reduce antibiotic usage. Journal of Perinatology (2002) 22, 547-549 doi:10.1038/sj.jp.7210792

October/November 2002, Volume 22, Number 7, Pages 547-549

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