LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS OF RESPIRATORY VIRUS-INFECTIONS IN 24 HOURS BY UTILIZING SHELL VIAL CULTURES

Immunofluorescence staining of centrifugation-enhanced shell vial (SV) cultures for respiratory viruses (RV) after 24 h of incubation, rathe r than the more commonly prescribed times of 48 h and 5 days, allowed for the detection of 77% of the RV-positive specimens that would ordin arily not have been detected as positive until 48 h. Staining SVs at 2 4 h also permitted earlier detection of viruses that were missed by ra pid antigen detection methods.