Abstract
Employing direct and indirect fluorescent antibody (FA) staining, and tissue culture infectivity (TCI), the specimens of external secretions, or lesion smears obtained from over 600 patients with acute viral infections were examined for the presence of adenovirus, herpes simplex (HSV), parainfluenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A positive correlation of about 95% was observed between the results of FA and TCI for identification of RSV. The isolation of infectious RSV by TCI required 1 to 3 weeks. On the other hand, RSV antigen was detected by FA within 4-6 hours in 92-95% of subjects tested. The RSV was recovered most frequently from subjects with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis (45%), penumonia (32%), asthma (29%) and croup (13%). Direct FA staining of infected tissue cultures inoculated with clinical specimens was employed to identify adenovirus, HSV, and parainfluenza viruses. The isolation of these agents by TCI took as long as 2-3 weeks and their detection by FA could be accomplished within 3-6 days without any additional passages in tissue culture. The rapidity of viral diagnosis resulted in increased awareness of the role of viruses in childhood infection and substantially reduced the indiscriminate use of antimicrobial agents in this hospital since the institution of rapid diagnosis.
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Kaul, A., Gallagher, M., Scott, R. et al. 785 RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF VIRAL INFECTIONS IN A HOSPITAL SETTING: AN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 494 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00790
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00790