title: A method for evaluating the statistical accuracy of in vitro virus titrations.
abstract: A method is proposed for evaluating the statistical accuracy of virus titrations based on formation of foci or plaques in monolayer cell cultures and of colonies in soft medium. It can be applied to experiments of enhancement or inhibition of virus replication and of cell transformation or lysis, even with effects of small amplitude. The method is based on simple formulae derived on the basis of Poisson's distribution of infectious particles in cell cultures. It can be used in determining the statistical significance of one result obtained in a single experiment, of the difference between two results obtained in a single experiment with the same control, and of two results obtained in two different experiments with two different controls. It offers moreover the possibility of planning experiments in order to get an expected result significant for a desired confidence limit.
mesh_terms: D005347:Fibroblasts; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014780:Viruses