Blood culture for CAP in adults

Before starting antibiotic therapy for adults with moderate- or high-severity CAP, collect 2 blood samples for culture from 2 different peripheral sites, or one site on 2 separate occasionsMetlay, 2019National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2019. For further information on obtaining blood for culture, including method of collection, number, timing and volume of samples, see Principles of obtaining blood for culture.

Identification of a pathogen on blood culture often enables de-escalation of antibiotic therapy and provides useful information on local epidemiology.

Importantly, blood culture sometimes identifies alternative diagnoses in patients with sepsis or septic shock who have been misdiagnosed as having CAP.

For a list of other clinical and microbiological investigations for CAP in adults, see Clinical and microbiological investigations for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults.