The Pediatric infectious disease journal
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Apr 2018
Yield of Anaerobic Blood Cultures in Pediatric Emergency Department Patients.
Anaerobic bacteremia is rare in children and current recommendations advocate against the routine use of anaerobic cultures in children. However, the incidence of anaerobic bacteremia and the utility of anaerobic blood cultures in children have not been assessed in recent years. Our pediatric emergency department (PED) policy still supports the use of both aerobic and anaerobic blood cultures in all cases of suspected bacteremia. This allowed us to re-evaluate the yield of anaerobic cultures in PED settings. ⋯ True anaerobic bacteremia is extremely rare in children admitted to the PED. Nevertheless, using anaerobic cultures may increase the overall yield of blood cultures.