What does blood culture positive mean?

Two or more blood cultures that are positive for the same bacteria or fungi means that the person tested likely has a blood infection with that microbe. The results typically identify the specific bacteria or fungi causing the infection.

How is a positive blood culture treated?

Ampicillin is the drug of choice if the isolate is susceptible. For penicillin allergic patients or in patients with ampicillin-resistant strains, vancomycin would be the first line therapy. For bacteremia caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), the choices include daptomycin and quinupristin/dalfopristin.

What is the most common cause of blood culture contamination?

Nonetheless, inadequate skin preparation is thought to be the most common cause of blood culture contamination (30, 89, 147).

What does a contaminated blood culture mean to the patient?

Blood culture contamination is defined as the recovery of normal skin flora (coagulase-negative staphylococci, Propionibacterium spp., Aerococcus, Micrococcus, Bacillus spp. [not B. anthracis], Corynebacterium spp. [diphtheroids], and alpha-hemolytic streptococci) from a single blood culture. 20.

What are the recovery rates for peptostreptococcus infections?

These infections are found more commonly in patients with chronic infections. Recovery rates in blood cultures are 2-5% and are higher in patients who have predisposing conditions. Martin reported that anaerobic cocci were isolated in 8.5-31% of clinical specimens that yielded any anaerobic bacteria at the Mayo Clinic.

Where can you find Peptostreptococcus in the body?

They were occasionally found in the CNS, abdomen, lymph nodes, bile, and eyes. Most isolates were found in abscesses, wounds, and obstetrical and gynecological infections. The recovery rates differed for the different anaerobic gram-positive cocci.

How is presumptive identification of peptostreptococcus made?

Presumptive identification can be made by susceptibility to colistin, vancomycin, and kanamycin using antimicrobial disks.

What kind of cell wall does Peptostreptococcus stain on?

Peptostreptococcus appears to stain Gram-negative, but it is really a Gram-positive cocci with a Gram-positive cell wall. It occurs in pairs and short chains.