Rapid Diagnosis Of Rubella By Direct Immuno-Fluorescent Staining Of Desquamated Cells In Throat Swabs

Summary Diagnosis of rubella by direct immunofluorescent staining of infected cells from throat swabs was studied in children and adults and compared with virus isolation. Under 12 yr of age both methods are equally sensitive, while in older patients virus isolation is the more sensitive. Since the immunofluorescence technique takes less than 24 hr to perform and virus isolation may take 3 wk or longer, the former method has obvious advantages in the rapid diagnosis of rubella.