Bloodstream Infection Testing Methods and New Approaches

Bloodstream infections (BSI) are infectious diseases caused by bacterial or fungal microorganisms in the bloodstream that produce an inflammatory response characterized by the alteration of clinical, laboratory, and hemodynamic parameters

Bloodstream infection (BSI) and associated sepsis have been contributing to a major mortality rate in the countries in recent years. As stated by National institute of General Medical Science, at least 1.7 million American adults suffer from sepsis recording a fatality of nearly 270,000 each year. This number has been rising continuously in the United States in recent years. With increasing cases of sepsis, the demand for bloodstream infection testing is also growing, simultaneously enhancing the growth of the global bloodstream testing market.

In many instances, these infections are noticed after 24 to 48 hours. It may take up to 5-days gestations to detect the major portion of slow-growing bacteria and fungi causing BSI. It takes an additional 6 to 24 hours for the antibiotic susceptibility determination.

Methodology for Bloodstream Infection Treatment

Blood culture is the current and most effective method of detecting a bloodstream infection.

In a blood culture method for adults, generally 10 milliliters of blood is collected from the patient.  Then a blood culture in a bottle is immunized by the collected blood.

Blood culture bottles normally contain growth media along with extra additives, which speed up the retrieval of microorganisms, probably present within the collected blood sample of the patient. The immunized blood culture bottle is then scrutinized with the help of continuous-monitoring blood culture systems.

The change in amount of carbon dioxide or oxygen within the blood culture bottle helps in detecting the growth of microorganisms. A change in the pressure within a blood culture bottle also helps in this monitoring process. Additional steps are taken to closely identifying the organism after the growth of the microorganisms detected.  Further subculture steps are required for the next processes.

Bloodstream Infection Testing Process

First, a nurse or an assigned phlebotomist cleans the patient’s skin and insert a needle into a vein to pull the blood. To get the most accurate result, the process is repeated using another vein.

In the lab, they mix the collected blood samples with a special material, a culture. This process helps the pre-existent bacteria or yeast grow.

The patient gets the result of the test within 24 hours. However, it takes almost 48 to 72 hours to learn the type of the yeast or bacteria causing the infection. This may require some other tests.

The result will come out as either “positive” or “negative”. If the result is “positive”, it usually means that the patient’s bloodstream is infected by bacteria or yeast. A “negative” result confirms that there’s no infection.

New Developments in Bloodstream Infections Testing

In recent years, many new techniques have been developed for the detection of any type of infection in blood. The main reason for such developments is ineffectiveness and insufficiency of the blood culture as a gold standard in case the patient is in antibiotics or in contact with fastidious organisms.

These new trends include PCR-based detection, hybridization probes, DNA-based techniques, or protein-based detection by mass spectroscopy. These techniques are aimed at faster detection of bacteria and the results are provided within 2 hours after the first signal of growth in conventional blood cultures.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Bloodstream Infection Testing Market

Contrary to the industries that are drastically impacted during the lockdown imposed across the nations in 2020 to curb the spread of coronavirus, the bloodstream infection testing market witnesses a positive growth. Healthcare institutions across the globe are working diligently more than ever to offer proper services to the infected people. Blood tests were performed to detect antibodies against the coronavirus. This rapid blood testing influenced the growth of the global bloodstream infection testing market.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.