Best culture medium for primary isolation of H. influenzae

The best culture medium for primary isolation of H. influenzae is?
A. Chocolate agar
B. Fildes’ agar
C. Levinthal’s medium
D. Nutrient agar

Correct answer : B. Fildes’ agar

Haemophilus influenzae colonies in chocolate agar

• Fildes’ agar is made by adding peptic digest of blood to nutrient agar.
• It gives copious growth of H. influenzae and it is the best culture medium for the primary isolation of H. influenzae.
• The other media used for the isolation of H. influenzae are chocolate agar, blood agar, nutrient agar and Levinthal’s medium.

Ref: Ananthanarayan and Paniker’s Textbook of Microbiology, 9th edition, p330.
Image credits: Stefan Walkowski. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haemophilus_influenzae.jpg