Evaluation of the BacT/Alert and VITAL blood culture systems for the diagnosis of bacteremia

• Published in: Clinical microbiology and infection Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 88 - 93
• Main Authors: Fontanals, Dionisia, Sanfeliu, Isabel, Pons, Immaculada, Mariscal, Dolors, Torra, Montserrat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Elsevier Ltd 01.02.1998; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: BacT/Alert; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial sepsis; Biological and medical sciences; blood culture system; Human bacterial diseases; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; VITAL; blood culture system; VITAL; BacT/Alert; Infection; Performance evaluation; Microbiological investigation; Bacteriosis; Diagnosis; Method; Blood culture; Bacteremia; Comparative study; Blood
• ISSN: 1198-743X; 1469-0691
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.1998.tb00361.x

To evaluate the detection of bacterial growth in the BacT/Alert (Organon Teknika) and VITAL (bioMérieux) automated blood culture systems. In accordance with the protocol of study, 1021 blood sample pairs for culture were obtained from adult patients admitted to the Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit. In total, 139 (13.6%) clinically significant blood cultures were detected, of which 79 (56.8%) were detected by both systems, 48 (34.5%) only by BacT/Alert and 12 (8.6%) only by VITAL (P <0.0001). The BacT/Alert system detected positive blood cultures more rapidly for all groups of microorganisms. The VITAL system showed six false-negative blood cultures, while the BacT/Alert system showed none (P = 0.03). There was no significant difference between the number of false-positive blood cultures detected by the two systems. In our study, overall the BacT/Alert system achieved a better recovery of microorganisms than the VITAL system.