Detection of bacteremia in children with sodium polyanethol sulfonate: a prospective clinical study

A prospective study was made of 1,000 consecutive duplicate blood cultures obtained from sick children to evaluate the usefulness of sodium polyanethol sulfonate (SPS). With the small volumes of blood (1 to 5 ml) usually obtained for blood cultures in children, SPS did not increase the frequency of recovery of organisms judged to be associated with clinical infections, with the possible exception of Diplococcus pneumoniae. However, the use of SPS was associated with an increased frequency of recovery of organisms judged to be contaminants, such as Staphylococcus epidermidis and propionibacteria, possibly because SPS enhanced the recovery of a very small inoculum of skin bacteria.