Need for better adherence to optimal incubation temperature for quality laboratory diagnostics and antibiotic resistance monitoring

In the omics era, incubation of human specimens and bacterial cultures continues to be the cornerstone for detection, identification and drug susceptibility testing (DST) of bacterial pathogens. Accurate results require bacterial incubation under optimal physicochemical conditions. Temperature is a key physicochemical factor that affects the bacterial environment, making incubators indispensable in clinical laboratories. Human pathogens generally multiply best at temperatures similar to those of the human host (35°C – 37°C). Biochemical tests for identification in pure isolates are recommended to be performed at 36°C ± 2°C, and DST at 35°C± 1°C.1,2,3,4 For Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and most nontuberculous mycobacteria, the recommended temperature is 37°C in both cases