Archive | 2021
Value of positive blood culture for Staphylococcus pettenkoferi - how not to make a mistake while interpreting the microbiological test results
Abstract
Staphylococcus pettenkoferi is a coagulase negative\nstaphylococcus (CoNS) whose clinical relevance is not fully understood.\nHitherto, there are several reports describing the participation of this\nspecies in human infections; in most cases S. pettenkoferi was\nisolated from blood cultures. The purpose of this work is to summarize\nknowledge about S. pettenkoferi especially in terms of\nbiochemical properties, types of infections caused, factors predisposing\nto bacteremia and susceptibility to antibiotics. Particular attention\nwas paid to the difficulties in identifying this CoNS bacterium and\nlimitations of microbiological tests. The principles of microbiological\nbloodstream infection diagnostics and criteria for interpreting test\nresults are summarized, as well. The analysis of published reports and\nopinions resulted in better characterization of infections in which\nS. pettenkoferi is the etiological agent. From a clinical point\nof view, presented knowledge allows to assess the risk of bloodstream\ninfection or sample contamination, help physician to implement the\nappropriate procedures and making decisions concerning inter alia\nempirical treatment.