Parainfluenza virus immunofluorescence. In vitro and clinical application of the direct method.

Abstract

The direct immunofluorescent method has been applied to the study of parainfluenza virus localization in tissue culture cells and to the rapid diagnosis of parainfluenza type 3 respiratory infections of children. After extensive testing of the conjugates for effects of fixation and specificity, 75% of parainfluenza type 3 infections were diagnosed by the fluorescent method in 100 children studied. The limitations of the fluorescent diagnostic technique including the five false-negatives and six false-positives encountered in the present study are discussed.