Sample type: Whole Blood

Test name: MCS (Blood Culture) a.k.a. Blood culture, Infection

Condition / Indication: Septicaemia/SIRS/Sepsis

Special precautions & notes: 2 sets of cultures at separate times from separate sites should be obtained (other than for line infection or endocarditis). 1 ICE request will generate 2 labels - please place 2 requests if you are sending more than 1 set.
Endocarditis: 3 sets of blood cultures taken at least an hour apart over a period of 24 hours.
If patient is very unwell, 3 specimens taken separately over 1 hour are acceptable.
For suspected line-related infections, send two sets of blood cultures, one from the line and one from a peripheral vein,

Reference range: Not Applicable

Container: Blood culture bottle set

Ideal volume (mL): Adults: 8-10mL blood per blood culture bottle; Paeds: 1-3mL blood. Wherever possible, please ensure that each bottle of the blood culture set is inoculated with the correct volume of blood. Smaller volumes adversely affect the sensitivity of the assay.

Referred outside NBT for analysis? No

Discipline: Microbiology

Turnaround time: 6 days