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Almost a quarter of critically ill patients with bloodstream infections were given inadequate empirical antibiotic treatment, but mortality was not higher in the group with inadequate treatment than in the group with adequate treatment. This fact was probably due to microbiological factors and clinical features, such as the type of microorganism most frequently isolated and the source of the bacteremia.

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Abstract. An Amies agar gel swab transport system was evaluated for its ability to maintain bacterial viability and relative quantity after freezing at 280uC. Nine American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) bacterial strains were used: 3 anaerobic strains (Propionibacterium acnes, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, and Clostridium sporogenes) and 6 facultative or strict aerobic bacterial strains (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Escherichia coli ([ATCC 25922 and ATCC 11775], Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, and Lactobacillus casei). The bacterial species were chosen because they corresponded to bacteria identified in psittacine feces and cloacal samples. There were no significant differences between growth scores at baseline and after storage at 280uC for 40 days for any of the bacteria examined after 48 and 72 hr of incubation, with the exception of P. anaerobius. For P. anaerobius, there was a significant reduction (P , 0.001) in the growth score after storage at 280uC for 40 days from that of the baseline; however, the bacteria were still viable. The tested swab transport system may be useful when lengthy storage and transport times necessitate freezing samples prior to culture.