Comparison of Cultureset and primary rabbit kidney cell culture for the detection of herpes simplex virus

Herpes simplex virus isolation by conventional cell culture in primary rabbit kidney cells (RK) was compared with Cultureset (CS). At 24 h CS was more sensitive (31 versus 25 of 55 isolates detected) than RK, but at 48 h there was little difference (43 detected by CS, 46 by RK). CS stained at 48 h was significantly less sensitive (78.2%) than RK observed for 1 week. CS stained at 24 or 48 h was not an acceptable substitute for RK observed for 1 week.