Prolonged Incubation and Extensive Subculturing Do Not Increase Recovery of Clinically Significant Microorganisms from Standard Automated Blood Cultures

An extensive blood culture protocol, including prolonged incubation of cultures, for 215 patients believed to have had endocarditis yielded only 3 clinically relevant results. Twenty-four Haemophilus, Actinobacillus, Cardiobacterium, Eikenella, and Kingella (i.e., HACEK) organisms were recovered from standard 5-day blood cultures during the same time period. Specialized methods and not extended incubation times are recommended for recovery of fastidious agents of septicemia.