{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T03:01:53Z","timestamp":1789786913713,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781740800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Trop Doct"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Accurate and timely Gram stain interpretation of positively flagged blood culture bottles is crucial for early detection of bloodstream infections and initiation of empirical therapy. However, resin and charcoal particles in culture media may interfere with smear clarity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A prospective study was conducted on 100 positive blood culture samples. Four smear preparation techniques \u2013 conventional, water wash, blood film, and drop and rest \u2013 were applied. These were assessed for diagnostic agreement with final culture results and graded for resin\/charcoal interference. Kappa (\u03ba) statistics measured concordance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The blood film method showed the highest agreement with culture Gram stains (63%, \u03ba\u2009=\u20090.26), followed by conventional (62%, \u03ba\u2009=\u20090.24), drop and rest (61%, \u03ba\u2009=\u20090.22), and water wash (59%, \u03ba\u2009=\u20090.18). It also had the least particle interference and the most deposit-free smears (29\/100).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The blood film method offers superior diagnostic clarity and is recommended<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/00494755261459846","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T08:46:50Z","timestamp":1781772410000},"page":"637-643","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Optimising Gram stain interpretation: A comparison of four smear preparation methods for Gram staining of positively automated blood culture bottles"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"56","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6193-3508","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Swati","family":"Nirmal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) & Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH)"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5437-9050","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kirti","family":"Nirmal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) &amp; Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH), Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nimisha","family":"Jain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Resident, Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Guwahati, Assam, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arghya","family":"Bandyopadhyay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Postgraduate, Department of Microbiology, University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) &amp; Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH), Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8117-2423","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shukla","family":"Das","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Director Professor &amp; Head, Department of Microbiology, University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) &amp; Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH), Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.03066-15"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1309\/V4KE2FPM5T8V4552"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4103\/0255-0857.62491"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.41.11.5238-5239.2003"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.01171-14"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_2","first-page":"147","article-title":"Interpretation of blood microbiology results - function of the clinical microbiologist","volume":"27","author":"Krist\u00f3f K","year":"2016","unstructured":"Krist\u00f3f K, Pongr\u00e1cz J. Interpretation of blood microbiology results - function of the clinical microbiologist. EJIFCC 2016; 27: 147\u2013155. Available from: https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4975230\/","journal-title":"EJIFCC"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_2","first-page":"98","article-title":"Comparison of four different methods of smear preparation for Gram staining of positively flagged automated blood culture bottles","volume":"4","author":"Nain J","year":"2018","unstructured":"Nain J, Deepashree R, Tamang P, et al. Comparison of four different methods of smear preparation for Gram staining of positively flagged automated blood culture bottles. J Curr Res Sci Med 2018; 4: 98\u2013103.","journal-title":"J Curr Res Sci Med"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_2","unstructured":"bioM\u00e9rieux. BACT\/ALERT\u00ae FAN\u00ae PLUS Gram Stain [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2018 Feb 15]. 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Available from: http:\/\/www.bmsd.com.my\/files\/editor_files\/file\/2_February_2013.pdf"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_13_2","volume-title":"Koneman's Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology","author":"Winn WC","year":"2006","unstructured":"Winn WCJr, Koneman EW. Koneman's Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006.","edition":"6"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_14_2","article-title":"Direct smear interpretation from positive blood culture bottles: impact of resins and charcoal on Gram stain readability","volume":"56","author":"Chandrasekaran S","year":"2018","unstructured":"Chandrasekaran S, Abbott AN, Palavecino EL, et al. Direct smear interpretation from positive blood culture bottles: impact of resins and charcoal on Gram stain readability. J Clin Microbiol 2018; 56: e01678\u201317.","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1309\/AJCP0H2DAMBXZUSS"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.02523-06"}],"container-title":["Tropical Doctor"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/00494755261459846","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/00494755261459846","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/00494755261459846","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T02:17:21Z","timestamp":1789784241000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/00494755261459846"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/00494755261459846"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/00494755261459846","relation":{},"ISSN":["0049-4755","1758-1133"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0049-4755","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-1133","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]}}}