Isolation of influenza virus in human lung embryonated fibroblast cells (MRC-5) from clinical samples.
Ninety-four pharyngeal swab samples corresponding to 94 patients with suspected influenza virus infection were inoculated in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, the conventional cell system for the isolation of influenza virus, and in fibroblastic human embryo lung (MRC-5) cells, a cell system less commonly used for this purpose but one frequently used in clinical virology laboratories. Both cell preparations were treated with trypsin. Influenza virus was recovered from 15% of the samples inoculated in MDCK cells and from 18% of those inoculated in MRC-5 cells. The use of MRC-5 cells can simplify the search for respiratory viruses and would assist in the rapid detection of influenza virus during new epidemics.
de Oña
M
M
Microbiology Service, Hospital Central de Asturias (Hospital Covadonga), Oviedo, Spain.
Melón
S
S
de la Iglesia
P
P
Hidalgo
F
F
Verdugo
A F
AF
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004285:Dogs; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005347:Fibroblasts; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D007668:Kidney; D008168:Lung; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000821:virology; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*