Viral Culture

Pitfalls of Culture

April 2012

Although there are advantages to isolating viruses in culture, there are also some important pitfalls. First, not all clinically important viruses grow in routine culture (and that includes both tube and shell vial cultures). Also, some viruses grow poorly in culture or take an extended period of time to show recognizable CPE. Culture also relies on the presence of viable virus in the specimen. Virus may not be viable due to a number of factors such as prior patient treatment, the type of sample collected, and the conditions under which the specimen is transported to the lab.

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Pitfalls of Culture

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Jump to section:

• Introduction
• Viral Culture
• Tube Culture
• Multiple Roller Racks Containing Tube Cultures
• Technologist Examining the Cell Monolayers
• Special Stage Attachment
• Negative MRC-5 Cell sheet (human diploid fibroblasts)
• MRC-5 Cell sheet with CMV cytopathic effect (CPE)
• Shell Vial Culture
• Shell Vial Culture (continued)
• CMV Shell Vial Results
• Pitfalls of Culture
• Viruses That Grow In Culture and Incubation Time
• Viruses That Do NOT Grow in Routine Cell Culture
• Best Tests for Identification of Cultivable Viruses
• Suggested Tests for Viral Identification
• Suggested Tests for Viral Identification
• Suggested Tests for Viral Identification
• Suggested Tests for Viral Identification
• Suggested Tests for Viral Identification
• Summary
• Questions