Table 2

Anaerobic organisms isolated indicating bottles type and clinical significance when isolated from the anaerobic bottle only

OrganismNo of cases/ bottle type*Age (sex)Underlying condition(s)Did lab result affect patient management?Comment(s)
Bottle types: Ae, aerobic; An, anaerobic; Bo, both (“Both bottles” consist of an anaerobic bottle and either a FAN-aerobic or a standard aerobic bottle).
Antibiotics: amo, amoxycillin; cxm, cefuroxime; cip, ciprofloxacin; met, metronidazole; pen, benzylpenicillin.
Anaerobic coccus2 / Bo70 (f), 70 (f)Grown from Ae and An bottle
Anaerobic diphtheroid bacilli1 / Bo52 (m)Grown from Ae and An bottle
Bacteroides cappillosus 1 / An72 (m)Postoperative cholecystectomy, ascending cholangitis, pyrexiaNoAlready treated with cxm and met - much improved
Bacteroides distasonis 1 / Ae67 (m)Grown from Ae bottle only
Bacteroides fragilis 3 / Bo83 (f), 77 (m), 63 (f)Grown from Ae and An bottle
Bacteroides fragilis 3 / An89 (m), 75 (m), 74 (f)Colonic carcinoma with pulmonary metastases/PUO, recurrent episodes of pyrexia/ Carcinoma with brain metastasesNo/Unknown/ NoAlready on cxm and met, died shortly afterwards/ Not documented in patient notes/ Already treated with met
Bacteroides fragilis andPeptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus1 / An81 (f)Confusion, anaemia, ?infection NoOn met before isolation
Bacteroides sp2 / Ae74 (f), 89 (m)Grown from Ae bottles only
Bacteroides sp3 / An88 (f), 72 (m), 65 (f)Bowel obstruction, renal failure/ Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/ Necrotic skin ulcers, renal failure, ?sepsisNo/Unknown/ NoAlready treated with cxm and met. Deteriorated and died/ Already transferred to another hospital./ On met before isolation
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron 1 / An71 (m)Necrotic bed sore, ?septic YesImproved after met advised
Clostridium perfringens 2 / Ae70 (m), <1 (m)Grown from Ae bottles only
Clostridium perfringens 4 /An68 (f), 78 (m), 70 (m), 60 (f)Frequent falls, pyrexia/ Dementia, subdural haematoma, pyrexia/ Postoperative pyrexia/ Recurrent seizures, ?UTI Possibly/ possibly/ No/NoImproved after treatment with amo and met./ Deteriorated despite addition of met and pen/ Already treated with cip followed by aug, improved/ Met advised. There seems to be no relevance of this isolate to patient's condition
Clostridium sp, Streptococcus sp, andEscherichia coli1 / Bo38 (f)Grown from Ae and An bottle
Clostridium tertium 1 / An70 (f)?Liver failure NoWent home when result telephoned. No antibiotics given
Eubacterium lentum 1 / An73 (f)Peritonitis, on peritoneal dialysis UnknownAlready transferred to referral hospital
Propionibacterium acnes 9 / An29 (f), 50 (f), 53 (m), 87 (f), 81 (m), 68 (f), 86 (m), 88 (f), 17 (f)Known MS, ?meningism/ Infected toe ingrowing toe nail/ Dementia, awaiting long term placement, pyrexia/ Myocardial infarction, GI bleeding, pyrexia/ Myelodysplasia syndrome, pyrexia/ COAD, pyrexia, ?pneumonia/ Dementia, pyrexia/ AppendicitisNo/No/No/No /No/ Unknown/No/ No/ NoWas not on antibiotics, she delivered and went home well./ Already treated and improved with met./ On met before isolation/ Already discharged well, without antibiotics/ Was well when result telephoned, without antibiotics/ Difficult to ascertain as was on a variety of antibiotics/ Improved and was well when result telephoned/ Discharged before result telephoned/ Already discharged well, without antibiotics