Role of single, paired and multiple specimens in the outcome of automated blood culture system – A 2 years study from South India

Automated blood culture (BC) system remains the best approach for early definitive management of sepsis. A retrospective analysis of samples received over 2 years was done to compare the sensitivity of single, paired and multiple BC sets. A total of 24,955 samples were received, of which 11,355 were single, 12,555 were paired and 1045 were multiple. BC sensitivity increased from 32.3% to 87% when samples increased from one to two, and a rise of another 13% with four sample sets (P < 0.0001). There is higher chance of missing positives if only a single BC sample was collected.