If you're conducting a blood culture on a healthy adult male, you will pull __ cc of blood into each bottle

• A. 3 cc
• B. 7 cc
• C. 5 cc
• D. 10 cc

Answer: (C)

The main idea is that the amount of blood drawn per bottle affects how likely the culture is to detect bacteria if they’re present. For an adult, about 5 cc (5 mL) per bottle is a standard target for routine blood cultures. This size provides enough sample to grow organisms without causing unnecessary blood loss for the patient.

Drawing only 3 cc would reduce the chance of detecting an infection because there’s less blood to sample. Pulling 7 or 10 cc per bottle isn’t required in this typical scenario and would mean more blood loss without a proven increase in diagnostic yield. So, 5 cc per bottle best balances reliable detection with patient safety.