Suitability of infection of cells in suspension for detection of herpes simplex virus.
Detection of herpes simplex virus in clinical specimens by the suspension-infection technique was compared with detection by conventional cell culture. The sensitivity and specificity of the suspension-infection technique compared with those of conventional culture were 95.9 to 98.2% and 97.5 to 100%, respectively, depending on the cell line used in the tests. The mean time to diagnosis by the suspension-infection technique was 1 day, compared with 4.8 days by conventional culture. Comparable detection of low-level positive specimens was observed with the methods. In a clinical setting, the isolation rates obtained by suspension-infection and conventional culture were indistinguishable. These results indicate that the suspension-infection method can be used for the detection of herpes simplex virus and can yield rapid diagnostic results without a time-consuming centrifugation step.
Luker
G
G
Department of Microbiology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.
Chow
C
C
Richards
D F
DF
Johnson
F B
FB
D000818:Animals; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014709:Vero Cells; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*