Blood Culture

Why It Is Done

A blood culture is done to:

• Find a bacterial infection that has spread into the blood, such as meningitis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia, a kidney infection, or sepsis. A culture can also show what type of bacteria is causing the infection.
• Find a fungal infection, such as yeast, in the blood.
• Check for endocarditis, which is an infection of bacteria living on the valves of the heart. See an illustration of endocarditis.
• Find the best antibiotics to kill the bacteria. This is called sensitivity testing.
• Find the cause of an unexplained fever or shock or a person becoming extremely ill.

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Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS	Last Updated: February 4, 2007
Medical Review:	Patrice Burgess, MD - Family Medicine Andrew Swan, MD, CCFP, FCFP - Family Medicine Joseph O'Donnell, MD - Hematology/Oncology
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