Ages and Stages Blood cultures from a child
When drawing blood for cultures from a child, follow weight-based quantity recommendations. A guideline is provided from a recent literature review:
1 mL for less than 8.6 kg
3 mL for 8.6 to 13.6 kg
5 mL for 13.6 to 27.3 kg
10 mL for 27.3 to 40.9 kg
15 mL for 40.9 to 54.4 kg.
Wipe the diaphragm tops of the culture bottles with 70% alcohol and change the needle on the syringe used to draw the blood. Next, inject half of the blood into each pediatric culture bottle.