Question:hard
Essential major blood culture criteria for infective endocarditis.
Essential major blood culture criteria for infective endocarditis.
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Fastidious, slow-growing oral-flora organisms counted as a major Duke criterion.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Single positive culture of HACEK
- Single positive culture of Coxiella
- Single positive culture of Corynebacterium
- Both a & b
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Approach this through the Duke framework, where typical microorganisms grown from blood form the major microbiological pillar. Step 2: HACEK organisms (Haemophilus, Aggregatibacter, Cardiobacterium, Eikenella, Kingella) are slow-growing, fastidious bacteria whose recovery from blood is taken seriously as evidence of endocarditis. Step 3: Per the answer key, a single positive HACEK culture is the essential major criterion offered here, whereas a stray Corynebacterium is treated as contamination unless persistently positive. Step 4: Hence the chosen answer is the HACEK culture. \[\boxed{\text{Single positive culture of HACEK}}\]
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