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Updated: Oct 22, 2025
Preparation of a Blood Culture Pellet for Rapid Bacterial Identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing
Published on: October 15, 2014
Increase of blood culture contamination during COVID-19 pandemic. A retrospective descriptive study
Risa Ohki1, Yumiko Fukui1, Naomi Morishita2
1Department of Pharmacy, Hyogo Prefectural Kakogawa Medical Center, Kakogawa, Hyogo, Japan.
Insights
Blood culture contamination significantly increased in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic. True bacteremia also rose, highlighting the need for safer blood culture methods for COVID-19 patients.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Critical Care Medicine
- Clinical Microbiology
Background:
- Secondary bacterial infections are a concern in COVID-19 patient care.
- Increased blood culture contamination rates during the pandemic are a potential risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare blood culture contamination rates during the COVID-19 pandemic (PP) versus the pre-pandemic period (pre-PP).
- To assess changes in true bacteremia rates in intensive care units (ICUs) during the pandemic.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective comparative study analyzed data from April 1 to December 31, 2020 (PP) and the same period in 2019 (pre-PP).
- Blood culture results from 346 hospitalized COVID-19 patients were examined.
Main Results:
- Blood culture contamination rose from 3.7% in pre-PP to 6.1% in PP (P=.015).
- In ICUs, contamination increased from 5.0% to 12.5% (P=.0097).
- True bacteremia per patient-day also increased in the ICU during the PP.
Conclusions:
- A significant increase in blood culture contamination was observed in ICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- True bacteremia rates also increased, indicating a heightened risk of bloodstream infections.
- Developing safe and effective blood culture techniques for COVID-19 patients is crucial.
Background:
Secondary bacterial infection during the care of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients poses risks to the patients, but there are concerns of an increase in blood culture contamination.
Methods:
A retrospective comparative study was conducted from April 1 to December 31, 2020, when the patients with COVID-19 were taken care of (pandemic period, PP), and it was compared with the same period in 2019 (pre-pandemic period, pre-PP).
Results:
A total of 346 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized during the study period in 2020. A total of 1,040 and 918 blood cultures were taken during PPP and PP respectively. 38 and 56 contaminations occurred during pre-PP and PP respectively (3.7% [95% CI 2.6%-5.0%], vs 6.1% [95% CI 4.6%-7.8%], P = .015). For the ICU, 10 and 32 contaminations occurred during the same periods (5.0% [95% CI 2.4%-9.0%], vs 12.5% [95% CI 8.7%-17.1%], P = .0097). True bacteremia in the ICU per patient-day also increased during the PP.
Conclusions:
We found a significant increase in blood culture contamination during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ICU setting, while true bacteremia also increased. A safe and effective way to obtain blood cultures from patients with COVID-19 should be sought.
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