scholarly journals Reducing Blood Culture Contamination; a Quality Improvement Project in Emergency Department

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s368-s369
Author(s):  
Itisha Gupta ◽  
Jane Codd
Keyword(s):  
Blood Culture ◽  
Positive Culture ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Total Blood ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Competency Training ◽  
The Impact

Background: Blood culture is an important investigation in diagnosing sepsis. Positive culture helps to tailor therapy and is crucial in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). However, positive blood culture does not always denote a bloodstream infection. Sometimes, false-positive results occur because of contamination from organisms outside the bloodstream, leading to significant negative consequences to patient treatment decisions and financial implications. Rates of blood culture contamination vary widely (0.6%–6%) between organizations, and although it is very difficult to eliminate contamination, it can be minimized. Our hospital group has multiple sites including emergency departments (EDs). We have been intermittently monitoring blood culture contamination rates since 2008, which decreased from 6.8% to 4.8% in 2009 but remained static when audited in 2010, 2012, and 2015. Objectives: To reduce our blood culture contamination rate further by targeting 2 busy EDs and by introducing continuous surveillance of blood culture contamination across 3 hospitals beginning in April 2016. Methods: In 2015, for the first time, blood culture contamination rates for both EDs, based in 2 different hospitals, were calculated. The ED results were communicated to the healthcare workers (HCWs), who agreed to establish a continuous surveillance of blood culture contamination and to participate in a reduction plan. Competency training was conducted according to training needs analysis. For example, phlebotomists were trained to ensure the use of the appropriate blood culture kit and educational sessions were tailored to staff groups. The blood culture contamination rate was monitored from April 2016 to March 2019 for 3 hospitals and both EDs to determine the impact of various measures introduced during this time. Results: In 2015, contamination rate of the 3 hospitals was 4.07%, and 10.2% of total blood cultures flagged positive. Also, 25% of blood cultures were requested from Eds, but these samples comprised 54% of the total contamination. The contamination rates for EDs A and B were 7.4% and 10.6%, respectively, which were significantly higher than the overall rate. From April 16 to March 19, there was 22% increase in total blood cultures performed. Results were analyzed quarterly. In total, 8,525 blood culture sets were received in January–March 2019; of these, the EDs contributed 2,799 sets (32.8%). The total blood culture contamination rate in January–March 2019 decreased to 3.1%. Both EDs A and B showed decreases in their contamination rates to 5.5% and 7.4%, respectively, in 2018–2019. The quarterly decreases were 5.2% and 4.9% in January–March 2019. Conclusions: The emphasis on the sepsis pathway probably led to year-on-year increases in total blood culture sets. Both ED blood culture contamination rates decreased. Consistent efforts in education, training, ensuring competency to various HCW groups, and provision of adequate blood culture kits are important for sustaining these improvements.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

Reducing the Contamination Rate and the Unnecessary Requesting of Blood Culture Test through Quality Improvement Project

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Tamer Mohamed ◽  
Ashraf A Askar ◽  
Jamila Chahed
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Quality Improvement Project ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Culture Test ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Before And After

Background: Blood stream infections are major leading causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Increasing the awareness of the clinicians and nurses about the proper protocol of blood culture test is very important in reducing the contamination rate and the unnecessary requesting of blood culture. Objectives: to reduce the contamination rate and the unnecessary requesting of blood culture from different departments through implementation of hospital wide Quality Improvement Project (QIP). Methodology: Blood cultures were tested in the Microbiology Laboratory of Najran Armed Forces hospital, Saudi Arabia, in the period from June 2019 to July 2020 and their results were compared before and after the implementation of the QIP. Results: The comparison between the blood cultures results before and after QIP implementation showed statistically significant (19.6%) reduction in the contamination rate, (14%) reduction in the total number of blood culture requests and (11.6%) reduction in the negative results rate. Conclusion: The reduction in the total number, negative results and contamination rate of blood culture test after QIP implementation were considered as performance indicators that the recommendations of QIP were effective and implemented strictly.

scholarly journals Evaluation of an Initial Specimen Diversion Device (ISDD) on Rates of Blood Culture Contamination in the Emergency Department

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
Blake Buzard ◽  
Patrick Evans ◽  
Todd Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Total Hospital Cost ◽  
Initial Specimen ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Secondary Outcomes ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: Blood cultures are the gold standard for identifying bloodstream infections. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommends a blood culture contamination rate of <3%. Contamination can lead to misdiagnosis, increased length of stay and hospital costs, unnecessary testing and antibiotic use. These reasons led to the development of initial specimen diversion devices (ISDD). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of an initial specimen diversion device on rates of blood culture contamination in the emergency department.  Methods: This was a retrospective, multi-site study including patients who had blood cultures drawn in an emergency department. February 2018 to April 2018, when an ISDD was not utilized, was compared with June 2019 to August 2019, a period where an ISDD was being used. The primary outcome was total blood culture contamination. Secondary outcomes were total hospital cost, hospital and intensive care unit length of stay, vancomycin days of use, vancomycin serum concentrations obtained, and repeat blood cultures obtained.  Results: A statistically significant difference was found in blood culture contamination rates in the Pre-ISDD group vs the ISDD group (7.47% vs 2.59%, p<0.001). None of the secondary endpoints showed a statistically significant difference. Conclusions: Implementation of an ISDD reduces blood culture contamination in a statistically significant manner. However, we were unable to capture any statistically significant differences in the secondary outcomes.

scholarly journals 660. Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Blood Culture Contamination Rates and Quality Improvement Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S432-S432
Author(s):  
Alexander G Hosse
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Nursing Staff ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Hospital Length Of Stay ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Culture Collections ◽  
Total Blood ◽  
Primary Driver ◽  
Inpatient Units

Abstract Background Blood cultures are the gold standard for diagnosing bloodstream infections and a vital part of the work-up in systemic infections. However, contamination of blood cultures represents a significant burden on patients and the healthcare system with increased hospital length of stay, unnecessary antibiotics, and financial cost. The data discussed here offer insight into blood culture contamination rates before and through the COVID-19 pandemic at a community hospital and the processes that were affected by the pandemic. Methods Blood culture contaminations were determined by using the number of sets of blood cultures with growth and the presence of an organism from the National Healthcare Safety Network's (NHSN) commensal organism. Contamination rates were evaluated by status as a standard unit or a COVID-19 isolation unit in either the emergency department (ED) or inpatient floor units. The identified four groups had different processes for drawing blood cultures, particularly in terms of training of staff in use of diversion devices. The electronic medical record was used to track contaminations and the use of diversion devices in the different units. Results The inpatient COVID units were consistently elevated above the other units and the institutional contaminant goal of 2.25%, ranging from 9.6% to 13.3% from 4/2020-9/2020. Those units were the primary driver of the increase in overall contamination rates. COVID ED nursing staff (that had previously undergone training in the use of diversion devices) used diversion devices to draw 51 of 133 (38.3%) cultures compared to only 15 of 84 (17.9%) on the COVID inpatient units. Figure 1. Comparison of contamination rates in the ED vs the inpatient units from all campuses from September 2019 through September 2020. The blue line represents the hospital goal of 2.25% contamination rate. Solid lines represent total contamination rates including COVID isolation units whereas dotted lines represent units excluding COVID isolation units. Figure 2. Comparison of the non-COVID vs COVID isolation units in the emergency department and inpatient units. The red line represents the hospital goal of less than 2.25% for blood culture contamination rate. Table of Contaminants vs. Total Collected Blood Cultures in Each Unit by Month Figure 3. Raw data from Figure 2. Total blood culture contaminations from each unit by month compared to total blood culture collections from each unit by month. Conclusion Evaluation revealed that nursing staff with less training in blood culture collection, particularly the use of diversion devices, were the primary staff collecting blood cultures in the inpatient COVID units. The difference in training is felt to be the primary driver of the increase in contaminants in the inpatient COVID units. The marked increase in contaminations highlights the difficulties of maintaining quality control processes during an evolving pandemic and the importance of ongoing efforts to improve the quality of care. These findings demonstrate the importance of training and routine use of procedures to reduce contaminations even during. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

scholarly journals Decreasing Blood Culture Contamination Rates Using A Specimen Diversion Device: A Quasi-Experimental Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s468-s468
Author(s):  
Ahmed Babiker ◽  
Aditi Ramakrishnan ◽  
Jessica Howard-Anderson ◽  
Jill Holdsworh ◽  
Mini Jacob ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Coagulase Negative Staphylococci ◽  
Total Blood ◽  
Level Change ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Background: Blood culture contamination rates are frequently higher than the ≤3% standard in the emergency department (ED). Objective: We sought to determine whether the implementation of a blood diversion device that mechanically sequesters the initial aliquot of the blood culture sample decreased blood culture contamination rates. Methods: We performed a quasi-experimental study in two 500-bed hospitals. The blood-diversion device was implemented in the ED in hospital A, but not in hospital B, starting in January 2018. Preintervention data were collected over a 29-month baseline period, and postintervention data were collected for 20 months. Both hospitals provided ongoing feedback on contamination rates. Blood culture contamination was defined as presence of common skin microbiota (eg, coagulase-negative staphylococci) in only 1 of ≥2 blood culture sets collected within 24 hours. Preintervention and postintervention blood culture contamination rates were calculated based on total blood cultures collected and were compared within and between hospitals using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Changes in preintervention and postintervention total and ED contamination rates within hospitals were calculated as rate ratios (RRs) using interrupted time series (ITS) analysis with segmented Poisson regression. Results: Among 212,789 total blood cultures (hospital A, 70,005; hospital B, 142,784), 4,025 (1.8%) were contaminated. In hospital A, the intervention resulted in a decrease in overall median blood culture contamination rates (2.4% vs 1.4%; P < .001) and ED median blood culture contamination rates (4.7% vs 2.6%; P < .001), whereas in hospital B there was no significant change during the same period in overall (2.3% vs 2.0%) or ED (5.0% vs 5.0%) median blood culture contamination rates. In the ITS analysis, the intervention was associated with an immediate decrease in hospital A’s contamination rate by 21.3% (level change RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.63–0.98; P = .04) overall and 21.0% (level change RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.62–1.0; P =.06) in the ED. After the intervention, there was a continued decrease in hospital A’s overall (trend change RR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93–0.97; P < .001) and ED (trend RR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92–0.96; P < .001) blood culture contamination rates, but not in hospital B’s overall (trend change RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00–1.02; P = .01) or ED (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.99–1.02; P = .30) blood culture contamination rates during the same period. Conclusions: Implementation of the blood diversion device in the ED resulted in a >20% relative reduction from a baseline of 5% of ED blood culture contamination rates. Continued improvement after implementation suggests ongoing efforts to address the workflow and the culture of safety are needed to optimize the use of this device.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Antimicrobial Stewardship Standards and Patient Safety: A Case Study in Blood Culture Contamination

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. s36-s36
Author(s):  
Connie Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Blood Culture ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Antimicrobial Stewardship ◽  
Standard Method ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Broad Spectrum Antibiotics ◽  
Contamination Events

Background: Blood culture is a crucial diagnostic tool for healthcare systems, but false-positive results drain clinical resources, imperil patients with an increased length of stay (and associated hospital-acquired infection risk), and undermine global health initiatives when broad-spectrum antibiotics are administered unnecessarily. Considering emerging technologies that mitigate human error factors, we questioned historically acceptable rates of blood culture contamination, which prompted a need to promote and trial these technologies further. In a 3-month trial, 3 emergency departments in a midwestern healthcare system utilized an initial specimen diversion device (ISDD) to draw blood cultures to bring their blood culture contamination rate (4.4% prior to intervention) below the 3% benchmark recommended by the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute. Methods: All emergency department nursing staff received operational training on the ISDD for blood culture sample acquisition. From June through August 2019, 1,847 blood cultures were drawn via the ISDD, and 862 were drawn via the standard method. Results: In total, 16 contamination events occurred when utilizing the ISDD (0.9%) and 37 contamination events occurred when utilizing the standard method (4.3%). ISDD utilization resulted in an 80% reduction in blood culture contamination from the rate of 4.4% rate held prior to intervention. Conclusions: A midwestern healthcare system experienced a dramatic reduction in blood culture contamination across 3 emergency departments while pilot testing an ISDD, conserving laboratory and therapeutic resources while minimizing patient exposure to unnecessary risks and procedures. If the results obtained here were sustained and the ISDD utilized for all blood culture draws, nearly 400 contamination events could be avoided annually in this system. Reducing unnecessary antibiotic use in this manner will lower rates of associated adverse events such as acute kidney injury and allergic reaction, which are possible topics for further investigation. The COVID-19 pandemic has recently highlighted both the importance of keeping hospital beds available and the rampant carelessness with which broad-spectrum antibiotics are administered (escalating the threat posed by multidrug-resistant organisms). As more ambitious healthcare benchmarks become attainable, promoting and adhering to higher standards for patient care will be critical to furthering an antimicrobial stewardship agenda and to reducing treatment inequity in the field.Funding: NoDisclosures: None

Blood Culture Contamination in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of a Teaching Hospital

2019 ◽  
Vol 152 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S133-S133
Author(s):  
Kemin Xu ◽  
Sarwat Gilani ◽  
Hank Wang ◽  
John Fallon
Keyword(s):  
Blood Culture ◽  
Teaching Hospital ◽  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Diagnostic Errors ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Bacillus Species ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Current Guideline ◽  
Tertiary Teaching

Abstract Objectives Blood culture is one of the most important tests performed in clinical microbiology laboratories. However, blood culture contamination remains a problematic cause of diagnostic errors for laboratory diagnosis and patient management. This aim of this study was to determine blood culture contamination rates and tendency at Westchester Medical Center (WMC), a tertiary teaching hospital in suburban New York City. Methods All blood culture tests at WMC received from January 2017 to December 2018, as well as some historical data from 2007 to 2014, were retrospectively retrieved. Blood culture contamination rates were determined according to the laboratory’s predefined criteria. Results From 2007 to 2014, a total of 209,750 blood cultures were performed with an average contamination rate of 1.6% (ranging from 0.4% to 3.5% monthly). The total numbers of blood cultures performed in 2017 and 2018 were 27,863 and 28,047, respectively. The overall positive rate of blood culture was 6.8% in 2017 and 7.6% in 2018. The contamination rate of blood culture was 0.6% in 2017 and 0.9% in 2018 with very few variations among different months of the year, which was significantly lower than that of the national benchmark (~2.5%) on blood culture contamination. The majority of contaminants were Staphylococcus epidermidis, accounting for 87% of source contamination, followed by Corynebacterium species (5.5%), Bacillus species and Micrococcus species (3.5% each), and Propionibacterium species (0.5%). Conclusion Adherence to current guideline on appropriate blood collection techniques and monthly monitoring and timely feedback to phlebotomists should be continued to keep a low contamination rate for blood culture, which is not only from the perspective of individual patient care but also from the standpoint of hospital epidemiology and public health.

scholarly journals A retrospective analysis of community-onset bloodstream infections at a tertiary-care academic hospital in South Africa. Are current empiric antimicrobial practices appropriate?

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinitha Alex ◽  
Trusha Nana ◽  
Vindana Chibabhai
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Antimicrobial Agents ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Contamination Rate ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Academic Hospital ◽  
Community Onset

Abstract Background: Community-onset bloodstream infection (CO-BSI) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Knowledge of locally prevalent pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns can promptly guide appropriate empiric therapy and improve outcomes. Objectives: We sought to determine the epidemiology of CO-BSI, the blood culture positivity rate and the contamination rate. We also sought to establish appropriateness of current empiric antimicrobial therapy practices. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed blood cultures taken from January 2015 to December 2019 at the emergency departments (EDs) of a tertiary-care academic hospital in South Africa using extracted laboratory data. Results: The overall positivity rate of blood cultures taken at the EDs was 15% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15–0.16) and the contamination rate was 7% (95% CI, 0.06–0.07). Gram-positive bacteria predominated in the pediatric cohort: neonates, 52 (54%) of 96; infants, 57 (52%) of 109; older children, 63 (61%) of 103. Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant pathogen among older children: 30 (35%) of 85. Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen isolated among adults and the elderly: 225 (21%) of 1,060 and 62 (29%) of 214, respectively. Among neonates, the susceptibility of E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae to the combination of ampicillin and gentamicin was 17 (68%) of 25. Among adults, the susceptibility of the 5 most common pathogens to amoxicillin-clavulanate was 426 (78%) of 546 and their susceptibility to ceftriaxone was 481 (85%) of 565 (P = .20). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales were low among all age groups. Conclusions: Review of blood culture collection techniques is warranted to reduce the contamination rate. High rates of resistance to currently prescribed empiric antimicrobial agents for CO-BSI warrants a re-evaluation of local guidelines.

scholarly journals Impact of Direct From Blood Culture Identification of Pathogens Paired With Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions in a Pediatric Hospital

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 802-808
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Puckett ◽  
Poonam Rajkotia ◽  
Lisa Coppola ◽  
Lori Baumgartner ◽  
Amity L. Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Culture ◽  
Positive Blood Culture ◽  
Pediatric Patients ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Culture Identification ◽  
Contaminated Blood ◽  
Organism Identification

OBJECTIVE Identification of organisms directly from positive blood culture by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has the potential for improved clinical outcomes through earlier organism identification and shorter time to appropriate clinical intervention. The uses of this technology in pediatric patients and its impact in this patient population have not been well described. METHODS Direct from positive blood culture organism identification via MALDI-TOF was implemented in September 2019. A quality improvement project was performed to assess its impact on admissions for contaminant blood cultures and time to effective and optimal antimicrobials and clinical decision-making. A pre- and post-implementation retrospective review for consecutive September through February time periods, was conducted on patients with positive monomicrobial blood cultures. Statistics were evaluated using Mann-Whitney U and χ2 tests. RESULTS One hundred nineteen patients with 131 unique blood cultures (65 in pre- and 66 in post-implementation) were identified. Time to identification was shorter, median 35.4 hours (IQR, 22.7–54.3) versus 42.3 hours (IQR, 36.5–49) in post- and pre-groups, respectively (p = 0.02). Patients were less likely to be admitted for a contaminated blood culture in the post-implementation, 26% versus 11% in the pre-implementation (p = 0.03) group. In patients treated for bacteremia, there was a shorter time to optimal therapy from Gram stain reporting in the post-implementation (median 42.7 hours [IQR, 27.2–72]) versus pre-implementation (median 60.8 hours [IQR, 42.9–80.6]) (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Direct from positive blood culture identification by MALDI-TOF decreased time to effective and optimal antimicrobials and decreased unnecessary admission in pediatric patients for contaminated blood cultures.

scholarly journals The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of positive blood cultures in Swiss intensive care units: a nationwide surveillance study

Critical Care ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauro Damonti ◽  
Andreas Kronenberg ◽  
Jonas Marschall ◽  
Philipp Jent ◽  
Rami Sommerstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Intensive Care Units ◽  
Bloodstream Infections ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Nationwide Surveillance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Second Wave ◽  
Interim Period

Abstract Background Evidence about the impact of the pandemic of COVID-19 on the incidence rates of blood cultures contaminations and bloodstream infections in intensive care units (ICUs) remains scant. The objective of this study was to investigate the nationwide epidemiology of positive blood cultures drawn in ICUs during the first two pandemic waves of COVID-19 in Switzerland. Methods We analyzed data on positive blood cultures among ICU patients, prospectively collected through a nationwide surveillance system (ANRESIS), from March 30, 2020, to May 31, 2021, a 14-month timeframe that included a first wave of COVID-19, which affected the French and Italian-speaking regions, an interim period (summer 2020) and a second wave that affected the entire country. We used the number of ICU patient-days provided by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health as denominator to calculate incidence rates of blood culture contaminations and bloodstream infections (ICU-BSI). Incidence rate ratios comparing the interim period with the second wave were determined by segmented Poisson regression models. Results A total of 1099 blood culture contaminations and 1616 ICU-BSIs were identified in 52 ICUs during the study. Overall, more episodes of blood culture contaminations and ICU-BSI were observed during the pandemic waves, compared to the interim period. The proportions of blood culture contaminations and ICU-BSI were positively associated with the ICU occupancy rate, which was higher during the COVID-19 waves. During the more representative second wave (versus interim period), we observed an increased incidence of blood culture contaminations (IRR 1.57, 95% CI 1.16–2.12) and ICU-BSI (IRR 1.20, 95% CI 1.03–1.39). Conclusions An increase in blood culture contaminations and ICU-BSIs was observed during the second COVID-19 pandemic wave, especially in months when the ICU burden of COVID-19 patients was high.

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