[Virologic diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia]

Viral pneumonia is not very frequent in healthy adults; it is mostly observed in elderly subjects infected with an influenza virus, a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or an adenovirus (AdV). In immunocompromised subjects, cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common of causal agents. From the point of view of clinicians, virological diagnostic methods must be rapid and specific, and for this reason direct examination techniques for respiratory specimens and immunological detection of virus are currently being developed in virology laboratories. These techniques make it possible, for example, to identify in less than two hours influenza viruses, RSV or AdV in bronchial secretions and CMV in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid after celle centrifugation. Virus isolation in cell cultures is the reference method, but the result is often delayed and the search for seroconversion may take several weeks.