Dark Art of Blood Cultures

In the clinical microbiology laboratory, blood is a critical diagnostic sample that, in the majority of cases is sterile (or is it?). However, when microbes gain access to and multiply in the bloodstream, it can result in life-threatening illness including sepsis. Mortality rates from bloodstream infection and sepsis range from 25% to 80%, killing millions of people annually. Blood cultures are a vital technology used in the microbiology laboratory to isolate and identify microbes and predict their response to antimicrobial therapy.;Historical perspectives on the art and science of blood culture -- Conventional blood culture methods -- Lysis-centrifugation methods of blood culture -- Bactec blood culture systems -- The bioMerieux BacT/alert: automation at last in the black box -- TREK blood culture systems -- Molecular methods for detection of pathogens directly from blood specimens -- Pediatric blood cultures -- Epidemiology of bloodstream infections -- Best practices in blood cultures -- Processing positive cultures -- Fungal and mycobacterial blood cultures -- The bacterial blood microbiota/microbiome -- Postmortem blood culture.