Continuous high-speed rolling versus centrifugation for detection of herpes simplex virus

Specimens submitted for diagnosis of herpes simplex virus infections were inoculated into shell vials and conventional culture tubes. Inoculated culture tubes were incubated with rolling at 96 rpm. Immunoperoxidase (IP) staining and cytopathic effects (CPE) were used to detect positive cultures. At 24 h, 42 (53%) of the rolled cultures were positive for CPE, while only 16 (21%) of the shell vials were CPE positive (P less than 0.01). No difference in sensitivity was seen between rolled and shell vial cultures that were inoculated with high-titered viral preparations and IP stained at 16 h. However, when low-titered preparations were used, 39 of 41 (95%) were IP positive by the high-speed roller method at 64 h postinoculation, while only 24 of 41 (58%) were IP positive with shell vials (P less than 0.01). These results indicate that high-speed roller method at 64 h postinoculation, while only 24 of 41 (58%) were IP positive with shell vials (P less than 0.01). These results indicate that high-speed rolling is better than the shell vial technique for the detection of herpes simplex virus by IP staining.