Diagnostic virology in a community hospital

Seven and one-half years of experience in a small diagnostic virology laboratory of a large inner-city hospital are reported. Seven hundred fifty-one viruses were isolated from over 8,000 specimens, using two types of tissue culture cells, human and monkey kidney. The most common isolates were Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) and Enteroviruses. Similar results have been reported by larger laboratories. Sensitivity for HSV in monkey kidney cells was only 75 percent that in human cells. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for cytomegalovirus (CMV) was found to be a suitable substitute for the traditional complement fixation test (CF). IgM antibodies were not found in all HSV infections, but these antibodies did appear before CF antibodies in some cases. Monoclonal antibodies to HSV were effective in typing isolates, but for detection of viral antigen in brain smears of HSV encephalitis patients, polyclonal antibody gave better results.