OPTN Statement on blood culture bottle shortage

Published on: Tuesday, September 17, 2024

In light of disruptions in availability of Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC™ Blood Culture Bottles, the OPTN issues the following statement.

Blood cultures are critical for:

• Assisting healthcare providers with diagnosing patients with bloodstream infections and associated conditions including endocarditis, catheter-related bloodstream infections, and sepsis
• Identifying the microorganisms causing these infections, and follow-on antimicrobial susceptibility testing can be performed to help guide optimal therapy

Blood cultures are specifically required as part of OPTN Policy 2.9: Required Deceased Donor Infectious Disease Testing. Knowing whether a donor has positive blood cultures is critical, as 1) all organ recipients from the donor are at risk for transmission and complications thereof, including morbidity and mortality, and 2) all organ donors with positive blood cultures are at risk for transmission to recipients and complications. It is important that donor blood culture testing occurs, as it is both required by OPTN policy and reflects a patient safety risk if not completed. In 2023, approximately 1838 (11.25%) donors with positive blood culture were reported to the OPTN, meaning any recipients that receive organs from these donors could be negatively impacted if blood culture testing is not completed.

At the same time, unnecessary and incorrect blood culture collection is not only detrimental to patient care but can contribute to or exacerbate shortages of blood culture media bottles. The CDC lists several recommendations for healthcare providers and laboratory professionals to optimize the use of blood cultures at your facility and to prevent blood culture contamination. Any potential shortages or interruptions in your facility’s supply should be reported to the Food and Drug Administration at deviceshortages@fda.hhs.gov.