Enfermedades infecciosas y microbiología clínica
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Culture of emergency room blood samples is common practice, but open to controversy. As compared to other emergency tests, blood collection requires twice as much time and needs a refined technique to avoid contamination, and the study has no immediate diagnostic utility. ⋯ Diagnostic performance and quality of emergency room blood cultures was high. The predominant etiology was gram-negative bacteria. Patients had a severe clinical presentation. Diabetes mellitus and severe sepsis and/or septic shock were independent prognostic factors of mortality.