CLINICAL VIROLOGY AND VIRAL SURVEILLANCE IN A PEDIATRIC GROUP PRACTICE: THE USE OF DOUBLE-SEEDED TISSUE CULTURE TUBES FOR PRIMARY VIRUS ISOLATION

Miller, David G., Mary O. Gabrielson and Dorothy M. Horstmann. (Yale Univ. School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. 06510). Clinical virology and viral surveillance in a pediatric group practice: The use of double-seeded tissue culture tubes for primary virus isolation. Amer. J. Epid., 1968, 88: 245–256.—Single tissue culture tubes with monolayers of monkey kidney and HEp-2 cells on opposite walls were examined for their practicality and usefulness in primary virus isolation from clinical specimens. Preliminary tests indicated that the sensitivity of double-seeded (D-S) tubes to common viral agents was satisfactory and, by increasing the amount of media and the antibiotic concentration, the cultures could be held in the upright position at room temperature for up to 5 days without deterioration. Over a 1-year period specimens from 2, 055 children seen in a private pediatric group practice were tested. All had acute febrile illnesses, thought to be of viral etiology. Throat swabs (and occasionally other specimens) were placed directly in the tissue cultures, one tube per specimen. The overall virus isolation rate was 20%, a figure which compares favorably with results of other studies in which multiple cultures were used. There was a definite seasonal distribution of the several virus types recovered, with four waves of illness associated with entero-, myxo-, adeno-, and RS viruses appearing successively throughout the year. The D-S tube system proved to be simple, economic, rapid and sensitive, suitable for community virus surveillance and diagnosis of viral illnesses seen in a large pediatric group practice.