Table 3 Rules categories and most common rules applied

Hospital acquisition

Blood culture collected > 48 h after hospital admission

Woeltje et al. [22], Woeltje et al. [25], Hota et al. [24], Snyders et al. [26], Bouam et al. [20]

Blood culture collected ≥ 3 days after hospital admission

Trick et al. [21], Bellini et al. [19], Lin et al. [27]

Infection

≥ 1 blood culture with non-CSC organism(s)

Lin et al. [27], Trick et al. [21], Woeltje et al. [25], Woeltje et al. [22], Hota et al. [24], Bellini et al. [19], Bouam et al. [20]

≥ 1 blood culture with CSC organisms and appropriate antimicrobial therapy

Trick et al. [21], Hota et al. [24], Woeltje et al. [22], Bouam et al. [20]

≥ 2 blood cultures with CSC organisms (same species)

Lin et al. [27], Trick et al. [21], Hota et al. [24], Woeltje et al. [25], Woeltje et al. [22], Snyders et al. [26], Bouam et al. [20]

≥ 1 of the following signs or symptoms: fever (> 38.0 °C), chills, or hypotension

Woeltje et al. [22], Woeltje et al. [25], Snyders et al. [26], Bouam et al. [20], Kaiser et al. [23]

Duplication

Blood cultures yield the same organism within 7 h are considered as duplicates

Bellini et al. [19]

Keep only first unique isolate scored as an infection within a 30-day period

Lin et al. [27], Hota et al. [24], Trick et al. [21]

Any other positive blood culture within 7 days of the CLABSI culture

Snyders et al. [26], Woeltje et al. [25]

Any positive culture with the same organism as the first positive CLABSI culture within the 14 days of the initial culture

Snyders et al. [26], Woeltje et al. [25]

Any positive culture with the same organism as the CLABSI culture within 7 days of the initial culture

Woeltje et al. [22]

Secondary BSI

Positive culture of the same organism identified in blood from another body site

Woeltje et al. [25], Woeltje et al. [22], Bouam et al. [20]

Identical organisms seen in both a non-blood specimen and a blood culture, where the non-blood specimen was collected − 21 days and + 7 days after the blood culture

Snyders et al. [26]

Organism recovered from blood, also recovered from a non-blood culture: 3–7 days after the blood culture or during the entire length of stay

Trick et al. [21]

Identical CSC species that are isolated from wound culture during day − 3 to + 7 of positive blood isolate or entire admission

Lin et al. [27], Hota et al. [24]

Identical Non-CSC species that are isolated from any non-blood culture during day − 3 to + 7 of positive blood isolate or entire admission

Lin et al. [27], Hota et al. [24]

Catheter associated/related

Central line present ≤ 48 h before collection of culture samples

Woeltje et al. [22], Lin et al. [27]

Central venous catheter in situ at the time of positive blood culture or discontinued within 48 h before positive blood culture

Woeltje et al. [25], Snyders et al. [26]

Same organism cultured from a catheter tip at the time of positive culture ± 72 h interval

Bellini et al. [19]

Patient with a positive quantitative tip culture growing at least 10³ CFU/mL

Bouam et al. [20]