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Durham, North Carolina (August 2003) — bioMérieux
Inc. announces the introduction of plastic BacT/ALERT®
blood culture bottles as part of its continued commitment to
provide laboratories throughout the world with the latest innovations
in blood culture testing. The new bottles are the only plastic
blood culture bottles available and were designed to help laboratories
achieve compliance with the U.S. Department of Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s Bloodborne Pathogens
Standard and other regulatory mandates.
“Safety is at the forefront of important hospital and
laboratory issues today,” comments Philippe Sans, bioMérieux’s
North American President and CEO. “The laboratory has
been mandated to create a safer environment for its patients
and employees. Part of this initiative includes converting from
glass to plastic products wherever possible. At bioMérieux,
we challenge ourselves to deliver products and services that
stay ahead of required changes. We are pleased to introduce
our new plastic blood culture bottles.”
BacT/ALERT’s innovative plastic formulation greatly improves
safety and does not interfere with organism growth or metabolism.
The new bottles offer the same proven media formulations for
equivalent recovery to BacT/ALERT media in conventional glass
bottles. The plastic bottles are 30% lighter than BacT/ALERT
media in glass bottles and 50% lighter than other brands in
glass bottles, an advantage which can help laboratories reduce
waste disposal costs.
Available immediately are BacT/ALERT SA (standard aerobic),
BacT/ALERT SN (standard anaerobic), BacT/ALERT FA (FAN®
aerobic), BacT/ALERT FN (FAN anaerobic) and BacT/ALERT PF (pediatric
FAN); BacT/ALERT MP (mycobacteria process) bottles will be available
in October 2003 and BacT/ALERT MB (mycobacteria blood) bottles
will be available in 2004.
Capable of processing blood, body fluids, and mycobacteria
specimens all in the same instrument, BacT/ALERT systems have
a well-established reputation in the laboratory community for
ease of use, high-performance detection of positive results,
and one of the industry’s lowest false-positive rates.
Based on a unique, patented colorimetric sensor technology,
each culture bottle is continuously monitored for microorganism
growth by a highly sensitive reflectometer. Changes are recognized
and quickly reported.
BacT/ALERT 3D systems provide laboratories with maximum flexibility
in spatial layout and workflow requirements. Instruments can
be configured to sit on a countertop, to be free-standing as
floor units, to sit on a mobile cart, or to use a combination
of these layouts if needed. The system’s incubator drawers
can also be designated for sample loading from the left or right
to accommodate the most ergonomic working procedures. Beyond
physical characteristics, BacT/ALERT 3D data management configurations
can accommodate a variety of requirements and varying levels
of operational capabilities and testing functions, to suit the
individual needs of every laboratory.
A global leader in disease prevention and management, bioMérieux
provides assays, reagents and instrumentation for clinical microbiology,
coagulation, immunoassay, and nucleic acid diagnostics; and
also for product quality control in the agri-food, cosmetics
and pharmaceutical industries. Based in Marcy-l’Etoile,
France, the company’s U.S. headquarters is in Durham,
North Carolina. bioMérieux is the eighth-largest biological
diagnostics company in the world and is the international leader
in the field of microbiology.
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