{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T02:28:36Z","timestamp":1781058516844,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]],"date-time":"2024-12-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735516800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ASHE"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n\t  <jats:sec id=\"S2732494X24004637_as1\">\n\t    <jats:title>Objective:<\/jats:title>\n\t    <jats:p>To describe the use of cultures for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) and situations in which AFB cultures are unlikely to be of clinical benefit.<\/jats:p>\n\t  <\/jats:sec>\n\t  <jats:sec id=\"S2732494X24004637_as3\">\n\t    <jats:title>Design:<\/jats:title>\n\t    <jats:p>Retrospective descriptive study of AFB cultures submitted to Sentara Health microbiology laboratory from December 1, 2021, to December 1, 2023. Data were collected from the electronic medical record and included patient demographics, the service line that ordered the culture, specimen source, and culture results.<\/jats:p>\n\t  <\/jats:sec>\n\t  <jats:sec id=\"S2732494X24004637_as5\">\n\t    <jats:title>Setting:<\/jats:title>\n\t    <jats:p>Sentara Healthcare System.<\/jats:p>\n\t  <\/jats:sec>\n\t  <jats:sec id=\"S2732494X24004637_as7\">\n\t    <jats:title>Patients:<\/jats:title>\n\t    <jats:p>All patients who had specimens submitted to the microbiology laboratory during the study period were included.<\/jats:p>\n\t  <\/jats:sec>\n\t  <jats:sec id=\"S2732494X24004637_as9\">\n\t    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n\t    <jats:p>A total of 13,944 AFB cultures from 8,243 patients were collected during the study period. Of these, 4.72% (n = 389) patients had a positive result, and 40 of 680 positive cultures were likely contaminants or non-mycobacterial. The average number of days between culture collection and positive results was 84.32 days (SD = 49.64) and 56.25 days (SD = 8.32) for negative results. Most cultures were ordered by medical subspecialties (44.06%, n = 6,144), followed by orthopedic providers (23.34%, n = 3,254) and surgical subspecialty providers (16.11%, n = 2,246). Most specimens were pulmonary (n = 6,620) with 619 (9.35%) positive cultures. Of 3,561 AFB cultures ordered from bone specimens, only 17 were positive (0.48%). The number of specimens processed by the microbiology laboratory required 2 full-time microbiology technicians to process specimens.<\/jats:p>\n\t  <\/jats:sec>\n\t  <jats:sec id=\"S2732494X24004637_as11\">\n\t    <jats:title>Conclusions:<\/jats:title>\n\t    <jats:p>Many AFB cultures were sent from patients who did not have clinical scenarios consistent with mycobacterial disease and cultures were not clinically indicated. Implementation of testing criteria could decrease AFB cultures and healthcare costs.<\/jats:p>\n\t  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1017\/ash.2024.463","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]],"date-time":"2024-12-30T09:56:21Z","timestamp":1735552581000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Cultures for acid-fast bacilli: are we being good stewards?"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7443-5985","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jennifer","family":"Hanrahan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie D.","family":"Sill","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patricia","family":"Ver Schneider","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica F.","family":"Copeland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elsie","family":"Frimpongmaa Amoako-Kissi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ogochukwu O.","family":"Ilobi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0432-5780","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela J.","family":"Toepp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1558944716642764"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref12","article-title":"The utility of acid-fast bacillus (AFB) and fungal cultures in orthopaedic infections","volume":"14","author":"Sanderford","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhsa.2017.10.030"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciw694"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11999-013-2917-7"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/CCE.0000000000000499"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhsa.2017.05.004"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31616\/asj.2021.0169"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref11","article-title":"Unnecessary routine use of mycobacterial cultures in patients with periprosthetic joint infections. InOpen forum","volume":"9","author":"Golden","year":"2022","journal-title":"Infect Dis"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.arth.2009.08.018"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/10711007231199091"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa241"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref15","article-title":"350. Unnecessary viral blood tests reduction and costs saving by using an automated test request blocking system","volume":"10","author":"Rahamim-Cohen","year":"2023","journal-title":"InOpen Forum Infect Dis"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1302\/0301-620X.104B1.BJJ-2021-0876.R1"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref17","first-page":"548","article-title":"Geographic variation and environmental predictors of nontuberculous mycobacteria in laboratory surveillance, Virginia, USA, 2021\u20132023","volume":"30","author":"Mullen","journal-title":"Emerg Infect Dis"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhsa.2012.12.016"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhsa.2022.03.019"},{"key":"S2732494X24004637_ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1513\/AnnalsATS.201804-236OC"}],"container-title":["Antimicrobial Stewardship &amp; Healthcare Epidemiology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S2732494X24004637","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]],"date-time":"2024-12-30T09:56:23Z","timestamp":1735552583000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S2732494X24004637\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024]]}},"alternative-id":["S2732494X24004637"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/ash.2024.463","relation":{},"ISSN":["2732-494X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2732-494X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]]},"article-number":"e226"}}