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Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP): Blood Culture - Laboratory Testing in Infant or Child

Purpose: To determine if an infant or child with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) should have blood cultures performed.

Description

Laboratory testing can be helpful in selected infants or children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Pediatric patients with CAP who can be managed as outpatients often do not need blood cultures to be taken. The authors are from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.


 

Patient selection: infant  > 3 months old or child with CAP

 

Indications for blood culture:

(1) outpatient AND progressive symptoms or clinical deterioration

(2) outpatient AND failure to improve on therapy

(3) inpatient

(4) to document resolution of bacteremia with Staphylococcus aureus

 

A patient who is managed as an outpatient and who shows clinical improvement rarely needs a blood culture, especially if the patient is fully immunized.

 


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Specialty

Objective

ICD-10