Optimization of Blood Culture in "Hospital without Infection Control Team or Microbiology Laboratories"

The effectiveness of interventions by senior resident physicians to optimize blood culture examinations has rarely been reported. We compared the results of blood culture examinations performed before and after an intervention, which consisted of 1) holding a study session on blood culture, 2) informing the monthly contamination rate, 3) feeding back the blood culture results to the doctor who ordered the test, and 4) distributing the institutional manual. After the intervention, the contamination rate decreased from 7.7% to 2.4%, and the proportion of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated decreased from 34.6% to 15.9%. Additional laboratory testing and antibiotic administration were ordered in 4 patients (30.8%) with suspected contamination. To reduce blood culture contamination, a multifaceted educational approach is essential. Our report highlights the fact that educational activities by senior residents could play a considerable role in promoting the optimization of blood culture examinations.