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Background: Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a common urgent condition at the emergency department (ED). However, current guidelines for diagnosis do not specify the juncture at which blood cultures should be taken. The decision whether or not to obtain hemoculture is based solely upon clinical judgment and potential outcomes of inappropriately ordered cultures. This study aimed to find clinical factors present on ED arrival that are predictive of bloodstream infection.Methods: This study was conducted retrospectively at the ED of a single tertiary care hospital in Thailand. We included adult patients with suspected infection based on blood culture who were treated with intravenous antibiotics during their ED visit. Independent positive predictors for positive blood culture were calculated by logistic regression analysis.Results: A total of 169,578 patients visited the ED during the study period, 12,556 (7.40%) of whom were suspected of infection. Of those, 8177 met the study criteria and were categorized according to blood culture results (741 positive; 9.06%). Six clinical factors, including age over 55 years, moderate to severe CKD, solid organ tumor, liver disease, history of chills, and body temperature of over 38.3 °C, were associated with positive blood culture.Conclusions: Clinical factors at ED arrival can be used as predictors of bloodstream infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NOW® Malaria Test, an immunochromatographic test (ICT), was evaluated to determine its ability test to quantitatively detect malaria parasites using 100 blood samples from Thailand, including 50 Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) infections and 50 P. vivax (Pv) infections. Intensities of the thickness of the visible bands of the positive ICT were compared with the parasite densities. In cases of Pf infection, the intensities of both HRP-2 bands (T1 bands: Pf specific bands) and aldolase bands (T2 bands: pan-Plasmodium bands) correlated with the parasite densities. The intensities of T2 bands in Pf positive samples showed better correlation with the parasitedensities than the T1 bands. In the cases of Pv infection, the intensities of T2 bands were also well correlated with parasite density. These results suggest that the ICT is useful not only for rapid detection of malaria parasites but also for estimating parasite density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]