Main description:

Understanding the diagnostic methods necessary to identify bloodstream infections.

In the clinical microbiology laboratory, blood is a critical diagnostic sample that, in the majority of cases is sterile (or is it?). However, when microbes gain access to and multiply in the bloodstream, it can result in life-threatening illness including sepsis. Mortality rates from bloodstream infection and sepsis range from 25% to 80%, killing millions of people annually. Blood cultures are a vital technology used in the microbiology laboratory to isolate and identify microbes and predict their response to antimicrobial therapy.

The Dark Art of Blood Cultures, edited by Wm. Michael Dunne, Jr., and Carey-Ann D. Burnham, surveys the entire field of blood culture technology, providing valuable information about every phase of the process, from drawing samples to culture methods to processing positive cultures. The Dark Art of Blood Cultures is organized around several major topics.

Contents:

1: Perspectives on the Art and Science of Blood Culture

1. Historical Perspectives on the Art and Science of Blood Culture

William Michael Dunne, Jr.

2. Conventional Blood Culture Methods

Robyn Atkinson-Dunn and William Michael Dunne, Jr.

3. Lysis-Centrifugation Methods of Blood Culture

Erin McElvania TeKippe and Morgan A. Pence

4. BACTEC Blood Culture Systems

Robin R. Chamberland

2: Modern Methods in Blood Culture

5. The BioMerieux BacT/ALERT: Automation at Last in the Black Box

Bradley Ford and George Kallstrom

6. TREK Blood Culture Systems

Neil W. Anderson and Melanie Yarbrough

7. Molecular Methods for Detection of Pathogens Directly from Blood Specimens

Mark D. Gonzalez and Robert C. Jerris

8. Pediatric Blood Cultures

Paula Revell and Christopher Doern

9. Epidemiology of Bloodstream Infections

Allison R. McMullen, Craig B. Wilen, and Carey-Ann D. Burnham

10. Best Practices in Blood Cultures

Robert J. Tibbetts and Barbara Robinson-Dunn

11. Processing Positive Cultures

Matthew L. Faron and Nathan A. Ledeboer

12. Fungal and Mycobacterial Blood Cultures

Robert S. Liao and William Lainhart

4: New Developments in Blood Culture

13. The Bacterial Blood Microbiota/Microbiome

Eileen M. Burd and Lars F. Westblade