Blood culture at 63 Japanese healthcare facilities

. Blood culture is essential for the diagnosis of infectious disease. Appropriate treatment is administered according to blood culture results; thus, highly accurate tests are required. The present study obtained data from hospitals which are ranked among those with the highest number of beds in each prefecture (top 10%; 1,000 hospitals nation-wide), beginning with 3,129 hospitals throughout Japan with ≥200 beds as of 2018. In total, 63 hospitals that gave their consent to participate in the study provided information regarding blood culture‑related indicators over a 2‑year period. The positive blood culture rate (95% confidence interval) was 15.4% (13.7‑17.1%), the number of blood culture sets per 1,000 patient days was 21.5 (18.2‑24.9), multiple set collection rate was 76.7% (71.1‑82.3%) and the contamination rate was 3.1% (2.4‑3.8%). Using these results as reference values for blood culture in Japanese healthcare facilities with ≥200 beds, the authors are attempting to approach these values at their resident hospitals and expect improved on‑site interventions and educational activities regarding the state of blood culture.