Controlled clinical comparison of plastic and glass bottles of BacT/ALERT FA medium for culturing organisms from blood of adult patients.

A new, clear-plastic nonvented aerobic FA bottle, designed to prevent breakage, has been developed for the BacT/ALERT blood culture system. We assessed the new plastic FA bottle by comparing its performance with that of the current glass FA bottle for recovery of microorganisms and time to detection of growth in blood samples obtained for culture from adult patients with suspected bloodstream infections. We conclude that the BacT/ALERT plastic and glass FA bottles are comparable for recovery of microorganisms and that the safety advantage of plastic bottles can be achieved without compromising performance.