Annals of Clinical Microbiology, The official Journal of the Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology
Original article

Comparison of BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F Media and BacT/ Alert FA Media to Detect Bacteria in Blood Culture Bottles Containing Peak Therapeutic Levels of Antimicrobials

Jin Young Lee, Jong Hee Hong, Miae Lee

Department of Laboratory Medicine, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding to Miae Lee, E-mail: miae@ewha.ac.kr

Ann Clin Microbiol 2010;13(4):151-156. https://doi.org/10.5145/KJCM.2010.13.4.151
Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.

Abstract

Background: Blood culture bottles with an antimicrobial removal system have been developed for patients treated with antibiotics. This study compared the ability of BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F bottles (Becton Dickinson, USA, BACTEC Plus) and BacT/Alert FA bottles (bioMerieux Vitek, France) to effectively remove antimicrobials. 

Methods: BACTEC Plus and BacT/Alert FA bottles were spiked with 5 mL human blood, peak therapeutic concentrations of 9 antimicrobials and 7 type strains. Three rounds of duplicate testing were completed per antimicrobial/strain combination and growth control without antimicrobials. The time to detection (TTD) and recovery rates for bacteria were compared for both systems. 

Results: Overall, the BACTEC Plus and BacT/Alert FA recovered 76% (128/168) and 34% (57/168) of strains from test bottles, respectively. BACTEC Plus detected all of gram-positive bacteria except S. pneumoniae with ampicillin and ceftriaxone, but BacT/Alert FA detected 0∼50% of gram-positive bacteria except E. faecalis with vancomycin and methicillin-resistant S. aureus with oxacillin. In presence of cefepime, cefotaxime, cefoxitin and ceftriaxone, BACTEC Plus detected 33∼100% of gram-negative bacteria, but BacT/ Alert FA did not detect gram-negative bacteria at all. In presence of ciprofloxacin, BacT/Alert FA detected 100% of E. coli and K. pneumoniae compared with 33% of those for BACTEC Plus. Overall, TTD of BACTEC Plus was shorter than that of BacT/Alert FA except in detecting gram-negative bacteria with ciprofloxacin (P<0.05). 

Conclusion: BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F media containing peak therapeutic levels of antimicrobials are more effective and faster detection of bacteria than BacT/ Alert FA media. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2010;13: 151-156)

Keywords

Blood culture, Antimicrobial removal system, BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F, BacT/Alert FA