Normal blood does not contain bacteria. If any bacteria are found with this test, the result is abnormal. This is called a positive test or a positive blood culture. A positive test generally means one of two things:
If a person has a positive test from contamination, no treatment is needed. If a person has bacteria in his or her blood, antibiotic treatment is needed. This test allows the bacteria that are causing the infection to be identified and treated. For example, an antibiotic may kill one type of bacteria and be totally ineffective against another type of bacteria.
Examples of aerobic bacteria that may cause blood infections include:
In some cases, a person may have a blood infection, but the test is still negative. Sometimes, bacteria are only in the blood from time to time, which may make the test falsely negative. Repeated blood culture tests may be ordered if this type of situation is suspected.