Experimental study of specific and nonspecific blood culture bottles for the diagnosis of candidemia.

BACKGROUND

Early diagnosis of candidemia is critical for the correct management and treatment of patients.

AIMS: To test the efficacy of different blood culture bottles in the growth of Candida strains.

METHODS

We compared the performance of BD BACTEC™ Plus Aerobic/F (Aero) culture bottles with the specific BD BACTEC™ Mycosis IC/F Lytic (Myco) culture bottles using the BD BACTEC™ FX 40 automated blood culture system to determine the mean time-to-detection (TTD) in Candida species. One isolate each of six Candida species was inoculated into blood culture bottles (final concentration, 1-5CFUml-1) and incubated at 37°C until automated growth detection.

RESULTS

Candida albicans and Nakaseomyces glabratus (Candida glabrata) were detected earlier in the specific culture bottle, whereas Candida tropicalis was detected earlier in the nonspecific bottle; Candida parapsilosis, Pichia kudriavzevii (Candida krusei), and Meyerozyma guilliermondii (Candida guilliermondii) presented similar TTD in both bottles.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests the suitability of using both bottles in clinical laboratories for a faster diagnosis and prompt starting of any treatment.