ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the use of mycobacterial and fungal blood culture bottle and the prevalence of Mycobacterium and fungus in the bloodstream infections in AIDS patients.Methods Blood samples were collected from hospitalized AIDS patients for culture of Mycobacterium and fungus.Results Of the 3 012 blood samples submitted for culture,425 (14.1％) were positive,including195 strains of fungal pathogens,mostly Talaromyces mnarneffei (129) and Cryptococcus (62),172 strains of Mycobacterium spp,and 58 strains of other pathogens.Conclusions The mycobacterial and fungal blood culture bottle is useful for detection of bloodstream infection in AIDS patients.The prevalence of fungal bloodstream infection is 6.5％ (195/3 012) and the prevalence of mycobacterial bloodstream infection is 5.7％ (172/3 012).The top three pathogens are Mycobacterium spp,Talaromyces marneffei and Cryptococcus neoformans.Our finding is inconsistent with the reports of other authors.