Virus Identification by Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Electron microscopy is clearly the best way to look at enteric viruses, many of which do not grow in tissue culture, and those that can be so coaxed, do so under special conditions that are not routinely found in the culture lab. Biochemical identification (e.g., immunological kits, PCR, Western Blots) require a specific reagent to recognize the virus, and if the right reagent is not used, the viruses will be missed (e.g., if you run a test for rotavirus, you will miss adenovirus, etc.). Furthermore, there are not biochemical reagents for all viruses. With electron microscopy, one can see a wide variety of viruses by doing a negative stain of an aqueous extract of stool.