Comparison of a modified shell vial culture procedure with conventional mouse inoculation for rabies virus isolation.

Rabies is a neurotropic disease that is often lethal. The early diagnosis of rabies infection is important and requires methods that allow for the isolation of the virus from animals and humans. The present study compared a modified shell vial (MSV) procedure using 24-well tissue culture plates with the mouse inoculation test (MIT), which is considered the gold standard for rabies virus isolation.

Emergence of G9 as a predominant genotype of human rotaviruses in Cuba.

To study human rotaviruses in Cuban children up to 5 years old with acute diarrhea, a total of 64 faecal samples from two pediatric hospitals between 2006 and 2008 were analyzed. Thirty-nine samples (60.9%) were found positive for rotaviruses by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), while four (6.