Reincubation of culture-negative urines for an additional 20 hours does not identify additional UTI cases

Introduction. The question of whether a single day of incubation is sufficient for urine cultures has been a matter of debate. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential benefit of prolonged incubation for initially culture-negative urines. Methodology. Eight hundred and twelve urine specimens with no growth after incubation for 20h were incubated for an additional 20h to detect slower growing uropathogenic organisms. Results. This study included a considerable number of urine cultures from immunocompromised and/or kidney-transplanted patients. For 99.9% of the specimens, there was no difference in the interpretation of results. Conclusion. Twentyhours of incubation did not have any negative effect on the detection of uropathogens.