Strengthening blood culture sampling at CHU-YO, Burkina Faso

From 20 to 23 January 2025, an ITM team traveled to Ouagadougou to train about 60 clinicians and nurses from all clinical wards of the hospital in the blood culture sampling procedure. The training, led by pediatricians Stefanie Bracke and Charlotte Grootaers, focused on eliminating contamination during sampling and obtaining high-quality specimens (with the correct volume).

A total of four training sessions, each with 15 participants, was held at the beginning of the week, followed by a practical examination on the last day of the visit. SIMBLE coordinating investigator Liselotte Hardy joined the visit to discuss the ongoing SIMBLE project and explore possibilities for future collaborations. Katrien Van Wymeersch also joined to review financial reporting and prepare for the end-of-study report.