Propagation in Tissue Culture of Cytopathic Agents from Patients with Rubella-Like Illness.

Abstract

SummaryViruses, apparently not heretofore described, have been isolated from the urine or blood of 4 patients with rubella-like illnesses. These agents were serially propagated in primary human amnion cultures and produced unique cytopathic changes characterized by the aggregation of nuclear material and the presence of inclusion bodies. Other attributes demonstrated included: filterability, failure to grow in embryonated eggs or produce disease in newborn mice, lack of hemadsorption or hemagglutination, interference with Sindbis virus, relative stability on storage, and destruction by ether. By inhibition of specific cytopathic activity, low but consistent rises in levels of neutralizing antibody were demonstrated in paired sera from cases of rubella. Moreover, patients from 5 epidemics of rubella, widely separated in time, exhibited serologic evidence of infection with the agents studied. These findings suggest that the viruses herein described may be responsible for a significant proportion of illnesses now clinically diagnosed as rubella, and, in particular, those occurring in epidemic situations.