Improving the Sensitivity of Blood Culture for Streptococcus pneumoniae

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Abstract
Isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae is jeopardized by low sensitivity of blood culture, autolysis and contamination with fast-growing organism(s). We performed an immunochromatographic (ICT) test for S. pneumoniae on chocolatized blood culture bottles and also sub-cultured contaminated bottles on a selective medium, thus identifying an additional eight and three cases, respectively, and improving the detection of pneumococcus by 23% (48% vs. 59%). Prescreening of culture bottles in a blinded fashion could rationalize the use of ICT with ∼99% accuracy. These two approaches can aid microbiology laboratories in resource-poor countries to substantially improve rates of detection of S. pneumoniae.

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