Nationwide Blood Culture Bottle Shortage
CDC ISSUES HEALTH ADVISORY
Shortage of Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC bottles expected to last several months.
BD Life Sciences issued a letter last month warning BD BACTEC Blood Culture System users that there may be delays in supply over the next few months.
Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC bottles are utilized for gathering blood cultures to screen for bloodstream infections, sepsis, and various other conditions.
About half of laboratories in the United States rely on the BD continuous-monitoring blood culture system, which exclusively works with BD BACTEC blood culture media bottles.
The interruption in the supply poses a risk of causing delays in diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and other difficulties, as stated by the CDC.
The agency suggests implementing strategies to enhance the utilization of blood cultures, implementing measures to prevent blood culture contamination, and ensuring the collection of the appropriate blood volume for culture.
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