CDC Issues Health Advisory on Shortage of BD BACTEC Blood Culture Media Bottles

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Health Alert Network issued a health advisory on Tuesday to inform health care providers, laboratory professionals, health care facility administrators, and state, tribal, local and territorial health departments of a critical shortage of Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC blood culture media bottles. BD has created a website to provide the latest information on the status of the supply.

In the alert, the CDC emphasized that unnecessary and incorrect blood culture collections not only harm patient care but also contribute to the shortage of blood culture media bottles. Therefore, the agency recommended that all facilities adopt diagnostic stewardship best practices to improve blood culture ordering and collection and develop plans to mitigate the potential impact of the shortage on patient care. The health advisory contains several recommendations for each audience.

AABB reminds members that the Association previously confirmed that the BD BACTEC aerobic platelet testing medium (SKU 442053) and BD BACTEC anaerobic platelet testing medium (SKU 442054) are currently not included in the BD impacted products list. AABB encourages facilities to review the BD’s list of impacted bottles to identify any bottles that they may be using and take appropriate measures as necessary.

AABB members with questions may contact regulatory@aabb.org.