A novel method of typing rhinoviruses using the product of a polymerase chain reaction.

At present rhinoviruses are detected and serotyped in tissue cultures, a slow and laborious process. Previously we have described how the polymerase chain reaction can be used as a rapid method for detecting the presence of a rhinovirus, or enterovirus, in clinical samples without the need to culture. Here we describe a new method which uses the product of the polymerase chain reaction to determine the type of the rhinovirus. The technique is rapid and simple and should eventually greatly facilitate studies on rhinovirus infections.