Re: EN > SP terms: true and index (in this context)

[Guest guest]

Speaking only from an American-medical perspective, the usage of *infection* in

this context supposes that blood cultures were positive in high titer (or

clearly positive). This of course means *real* infection.

Contamination of the blood culturing process, i.e. using an imperfect technique,

would allow bacteria (or fungi etc) to grow in the culture medium (a bottle).

These titers or colony counts would be lower than in a *real* infection or the

species recovered frm contaminated specimens would be very unlikely to cause

tissue invasion (infection) and would therefore be considered *contaminants*.

If the study definition of *infection* was that cultures were positive then they

were taken. But in clinical diagnosis of a real patient the same terminiology

might be used when cultures were not sampled, if there was evidence of

*infection* such as fever, redness, swelling, pain (calor, rubor, tumor, dolor).

renzoBruni

[Guest guest]

> Does " index " refer to the first blood culture? I have translated it > as

" inicial "

I fear that I didn't respond directly to this part of your question. You seem to

have understood correctly. The first blood culture in a series of this type

would be called the *index*, which is an epidemiological term for *first*. It

would not be called that in clinical care of the patient, only in a study with a

strict protocol specifying the timing of cultures.

renzoBruni