Situation and questions regarding the practice of blood cultures in paediatric patients: an opinion paper.
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| Title: | Situation and questions regarding the practice of blood cultures in paediatric patients: an opinion paper. |
|---|---|
| Alternate Title: | Situación y cuestiones relacionadas con la realización de hemocultivos en pacientes pediátricos: un documento de opinión. |
| Authors: | Burillo, Almudena1,2,3 almudena.burillo@gmail.com, Estévez, Agustín1,2,3, Kestler, Martha1,2,3, Pérez-Granda, María Jesús1,2,3,4,5, Muñoz, Patricia1,2,3,4, Bouza, Emilio1,2,3,4 |
| Source: | Revista Española de Quimioterapia. jun2026, Vol. 39 Issue 3, p172-190. 19p. |
| Subjects: | MICROBIAL cultures, BACTEREMIA, INFECTION prevention, NEWBORN infants, DIAGNOSIS, SEPSIS, MEDICAL protocols, CHILD patients |
| Abstract (English): | The collection and interpretation of blood cultures in paediatric patients require specific considerations that make simple extrapolation from adult recommendations inappropriate. In recent years, the incidence and aetiology of paediatric bacteraemia have evolved, influenced by vaccination programmes, improved infection prevention strategies, and increasing clinical complexity, particularly in neonatal, oncohaematological, and intensive care settings. Clinical guidelines recommend blood cultures in neonates and infants with fever without a focus in children with sepsis or shock, with immunosuppression, suspected endovascular infection, meningitis, osteoarticular infections, or severe community-acquired pneumonia. Conversely, routine use is discouraged in clearly viral infections and in mild cases in previously healthy children. Available evidence consistently identifies the volume of blood inoculated as the main determinant of diagnostic performance, and this should be adjusted for age and weight. Obtaining one or two appropriately indicated peripheral blood culture sets, together with proper antisepsis, reduces contamination and improves clinical interpretation. Whenever feasible, both aerobic and anaerobic bottles should be included, given their complementary diagnostic yield. There is no robust evidence that paediatric bottles with smaller broth volumes provide substantial advantages over standard bottles when adequate blood volumes are inoculated. Importantly, no evidence demonstrates that the type of bottle or automated system used influences hospital stay, clinical outcomes, or mortality. This article presents an evidence-informed perspective that integrates current literature with expert clinical judgment, derived from more than four decades of experience at a high-complexity tertiary-care hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Abstract (Spanish): | La práctica de los hemocultivos en pediatría requiere un enfoque específico y no debe extrapolarse automáticamente de la población adulta. La epidemiología de la bacteriemia pediátrica ha experimentado cambios relevantes en las últimas décadas, condicionados por los programas de vacunación, la mejora de las medidas de prevención de la infección nosocomial y la mayor complejidad de los pacientes, especialmente en áreas neonatales, oncohematológicas y de cuidados intensivos. Las principales guías coinciden en indicar hemocultivos en neonatos y lactantes con fiebre sin foco, en situaciones de sepsis o shock, de inmunosupresión, de sospecha de infección endovascular, de meningitis, de infecciones osteoarticulares y de neumonía comunitaria grave. Por el contrario, no se recomienda su uso sistemático en infecciones claramente virales ni en cuadros leves en niños previamente sanos. El volumen de sangre inoculado es el factor que más influye en el rendimiento diagnóstico y debe ajustarse al peso y a la edad del paciente. La obtención de una o dos extracciones por venopunción periférica, junto con una antisepsia rigurosa, disminuye la contaminación y mejora la interpretación clínica. Siempre que sea posible, deben emplearse botellas aerobias y anaerobias por su carácter complementario. La evidencia disponible no demuestra ventajas sustanciales de las botellas pediátricas frente a las estándar cuando se inoculan volúmenes adecuados, ni que el tipo de sistema automatizado modifique la estancia hospitalaria, el consumo antibiótico o la mortalidad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Revista Española de Quimioterapia is the property of Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | MedicLatina |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: lth DbLabel: MedicLatina An: 194263774 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Situation and questions regarding the practice of blood cultures in paediatric patients: an opinion paper. – Name: TitleAlt Label: Alternate Title Group: TiAlt Data: Situación y cuestiones relacionadas con la realización de hemocultivos en pacientes pediátricos: un documento de opinión. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burillo%2C+Almudena%22">Burillo, Almudena</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo><i> almudena.burillo@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Estévez%2C+Agustín%22">Estévez, Agustín</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kestler%2C+Martha%22">Kestler, Martha</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pérez-Granda%2C+María+Jesús%22">Pérez-Granda, María Jesús</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3,4,5</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Muñoz%2C+Patricia%22">Muñoz, Patricia</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3,4</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bouza%2C+Emilio%22">Bouza, Emilio</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3,4</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Revista+Española+de+Quimioterapia%22">Revista Española de Quimioterapia</searchLink>. jun2026, Vol. 39 Issue 3, p172-190. 19p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22MICROBIAL+cultures%22">MICROBIAL cultures</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22BACTEREMIA%22">BACTEREMIA</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22INFECTION+prevention%22">INFECTION prevention</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22NEWBORN+infants%22">NEWBORN infants</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22DIAGNOSIS%22">DIAGNOSIS</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22SEPSIS%22">SEPSIS</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22MEDICAL+protocols%22">MEDICAL protocols</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22CHILD+patients%22">CHILD patients</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract (English) Group: Ab Data: The collection and interpretation of blood cultures in paediatric patients require specific considerations that make simple extrapolation from adult recommendations inappropriate. In recent years, the incidence and aetiology of paediatric bacteraemia have evolved, influenced by vaccination programmes, improved infection prevention strategies, and increasing clinical complexity, particularly in neonatal, oncohaematological, and intensive care settings. Clinical guidelines recommend blood cultures in neonates and infants with fever without a focus in children with sepsis or shock, with immunosuppression, suspected endovascular infection, meningitis, osteoarticular infections, or severe community-acquired pneumonia. Conversely, routine use is discouraged in clearly viral infections and in mild cases in previously healthy children. Available evidence consistently identifies the volume of blood inoculated as the main determinant of diagnostic performance, and this should be adjusted for age and weight. Obtaining one or two appropriately indicated peripheral blood culture sets, together with proper antisepsis, reduces contamination and improves clinical interpretation. Whenever feasible, both aerobic and anaerobic bottles should be included, given their complementary diagnostic yield. There is no robust evidence that paediatric bottles with smaller broth volumes provide substantial advantages over standard bottles when adequate blood volumes are inoculated. Importantly, no evidence demonstrates that the type of bottle or automated system used influences hospital stay, clinical outcomes, or mortality. This article presents an evidence-informed perspective that integrates current literature with expert clinical judgment, derived from more than four decades of experience at a high-complexity tertiary-care hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract (Spanish) Group: Ab Data: La práctica de los hemocultivos en pediatría requiere un enfoque específico y no debe extrapolarse automáticamente de la población adulta. La epidemiología de la bacteriemia pediátrica ha experimentado cambios relevantes en las últimas décadas, condicionados por los programas de vacunación, la mejora de las medidas de prevención de la infección nosocomial y la mayor complejidad de los pacientes, especialmente en áreas neonatales, oncohematológicas y de cuidados intensivos. Las principales guías coinciden en indicar hemocultivos en neonatos y lactantes con fiebre sin foco, en situaciones de sepsis o shock, de inmunosupresión, de sospecha de infección endovascular, de meningitis, de infecciones osteoarticulares y de neumonía comunitaria grave. Por el contrario, no se recomienda su uso sistemático en infecciones claramente virales ni en cuadros leves en niños previamente sanos. El volumen de sangre inoculado es el factor que más influye en el rendimiento diagnóstico y debe ajustarse al peso y a la edad del paciente. La obtención de una o dos extracciones por venopunción periférica, junto con una antisepsia rigurosa, disminuye la contaminación y mejora la interpretación clínica. Siempre que sea posible, deben emplearse botellas aerobias y anaerobias por su carácter complementario. La evidencia disponible no demuestra ventajas sustanciales de las botellas pediátricas frente a las estándar cuando se inoculan volúmenes adecuados, ni que el tipo de sistema automatizado modifique la estancia hospitalaria, el consumo antibiótico o la mortalidad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Revista Española de Quimioterapia is the property of Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.37201/req/159.2026 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 19 StartPage: 172 Subjects: – SubjectFull: MICROBIAL cultures Type: general – SubjectFull: BACTEREMIA Type: general – SubjectFull: INFECTION prevention Type: general – SubjectFull: NEWBORN infants Type: general – SubjectFull: DIAGNOSIS Type: general – SubjectFull: SEPSIS Type: general – SubjectFull: MEDICAL protocols Type: general – SubjectFull: CHILD patients Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Situation and questions regarding the practice of blood cultures in paediatric patients: an opinion paper. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Burillo, Almudena – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Estévez, Agustín – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kestler, Martha – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Pérez-Granda, María Jesús – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Muñoz, Patricia – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Bouza, Emilio IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: jun2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 02143429 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 39 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Revista Española de Quimioterapia Type: main |
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