Important : Please note that the BACT/ALERT Standard Blood Culture bottles are being discontinued in the United States. For more information, please refer to the notice below.
BACT/ALERT® Standard
Culture Media
At bioMérieux, our mission has always been to help you deliver the highest standards of diagnostic excellence and patient care. To continue meeting this commitment, we are evolving our blood culture bottle portfolio to focus on our most advanced and clinically effective technologies available today.
BACT/ALERT Standard Culture Bottle Discontinuation Notice
We will be gradually transitioning our blood culture portfolio to the BACT/ALERT® FAN® PLUS bottles, which provide enhanced detection performance, faster time to results, and antimicrobial neutralization properties that support better management of patients receiving antimicrobial treatment not available in the BACT/ALERT Standard blood culture bottles.1,2
To focus on the latest technologies, we plan to discontinue our BACT/ALERT® standard aerobic and anaerobic (SA & SN) bottles by the end of 2026.
References Impacted by this transition are listed below:
bioMérieux Part # | Description |
259789 | BACT/ALERT SA |
259790 | BACT/ALERT SN |
279102 | Blood Culture Collection Kit (Standard) |
422081 | Blood Culture Collection Kit (FAN Plus Combo) |
Why Transition to BACT/ALERT FAN PLUS Culture Media?
Clinical studies have demonstrated that BACT/ALERT FAN PLUS bottles deliver measurable benefits:
- Enhanced microorganism recovery1
- Improved time to detection1
- Antimicrobial neutralization1
- Increased bloodstream infection case detection from 2.2 to 2.6 per 1,000 hospital-days, especially in intensive care units. 2
These improvements can help laboratories and clinicians accelerate diagnosis and treatment, which may support improved patient outcomes.
BACT/ALERT® FAN PLUS products currently available:
bioMérieux Part # | Description |
410851 | BACT/ALERT FA PLUS |
410852 | BACT/ALERT FN PLUS |
410853 | BACT/ALERT PF PLUS |
422080 | Blood Culture Collection Kit (FAN Plus) |
Our Continued Commitment to Your Success
We recognize that transitions of this kind require planning. To support you, our team will provide:
- Dedicated assistance for evaluation, conversion, and contracting.
- Clinical and communication resources to help engage your stakeholders.
- Ongoing updates to ensure a smooth transition throughout the process.
Service and Support
For immediate questions, please contact Clinical Customer Support at (800) 682-2666. For non-urgent inquiries, email CustomerService-BTA@biomerieux.com.
Together, we are advancing diagnostic excellence and patient outcomes through innovative microbiology solutions.
- Lovern D, Katzin B, Johnson K, et al. Antimicrobial binding and growth kinetics in BACT/ALERT® FA PLUS and BACTEC® Aerobic/F Plus blood culture media. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2016;35:2033–2036.
- Amarsy-Guerle R, Mougari F, Jacquier H, Oliary J, Benmansour H, Riahi J, Berçot B, Raskine L, Cambau E. High medical impact of implementing the new polymeric bead-based BacT/ALERT FA Plus and FN Plus blood culture bottles in standard care. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2015;34(5):1031–1037. doi:10.1007/s10096-015-2319-8
