Evaluation of prolonged incubation time of 16-20 h with the EUCAST rapid antimicrobial susceptibility disc diffusion testing method.

This study shows that, for EUCAST RAST, prolonging the recommended incubation to 16-20 h is possible and can be used as a complement when the intended shorter incubation is not possible to achieve. The introduction of the prolonged incubation will increase the usefulness of the EUCAST RAST method in clinical laboratories with limited opening hours.