BACKGROUND: A major impediment to performing virological field studies in developing nations is the lack of ultra-low freezers as well as the expense and difficulty of shipping frozen samples. A commercially available product, ViveST™, was developed to preserve nucleic acids at ambient temperature for use in specimen storage and transportation. However, its applications as a viral storage, transport and recovery device have not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ability of ViveST to preserve live virus following storage at ambient temperature. STUDY DESIGN: A panel of six viruses was stored at ambient temperature (~22°C) in ViveST with fetal bovine serum (FBS), or ViveST with minimal essential media (MEM) and compared with virus stored in universal transport media (M4RT), MEM, and FBS alone. Stored viruses included: human adenovirus (14p), dengue virus 2 (16608), echovirus 3 (Morrisey), human rhinovirus 15 (1734), Coxsackie virus B5 (Faulkner), and herpes simplex virus 1 (HF). After 7 days storage at ambient temperature, virus recovery was measured via titration using viral plaque assays or focus-forming unit assays. RESULTS: Viral titer studies indicate that ViveST with either FBS or M4RT preserved/recovered 5 different viruses for 1 week at ambient temperature. MEM preserved 4 viruses while FBS and ViveST with MEM preserved 3 viruses each. Statistical analyses indicate that M4RT and ViveST with FBS preserved significantly more virus than the other treatments. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that ViveST with either FBS or M4RT may be useful in field specimen collection scenarios where ultra-cold storage is not available. Published by Elsevier B.V.
BACKGROUND: A major impediment to performing virological field studies in developing nations is the lack of ultra-low freezers as well as the expense and difficulty of shipping frozen samples. A commercially available product, ViveST™, was developed to preserve nucleic acids at ambient temperature for use in specimen storage and transportation. However, its applications as a viral storage, transport and recovery device have not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ability of ViveST to preserve live virus following storage at ambient temperature. STUDY DESIGN: A panel of six viruses was stored at ambient temperature (~22°C) in ViveST with fetal bovine serum (FBS), or ViveST with minimal essential media (MEM) and compared with virus stored in universal transport media (M4RT), MEM, and FBS alone. Stored viruses included: human adenovirus (14p), dengue virus 2 (16608), echovirus 3 (Morrisey), human rhinovirus 15 (1734), Coxsackie virus B5 (Faulkner), and herpes simplex virus 1 (HF). After 7 days storage at ambient temperature, virus recovery was measured via titration using viral plaque assays or focus-forming unit assays. RESULTS: Viral titer studies indicate that ViveST with either FBS or M4RT preserved/recovered 5 different viruses for 1 week at ambient temperature. MEM preserved 4 viruses while FBS and ViveST with MEM preserved 3 viruses each. Statistical analyses indicate that M4RT and ViveST with FBS preserved significantly more virus than the other treatments. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that ViveST with either FBS or M4RT may be useful in field specimen collection scenarios where ultra-cold storage is not available. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Authors: Elliott R Jacobson; Pamela E Ginn; J Mitchell Troutman; Lisa Farina; Lillian Stark; Kaci Klenk; Kristen L Burkhalter; Nicholas Komar Journal: J Wildl Dis Date: 2005-01 Impact factor: 1.535
Authors: J A Runstadler; G M Happ; R D Slemons; Z-M Sheng; N Gundlach; M Petrula; D Senne; J Nolting; D L Evers; A Modrell; H Huson; S Hills; T Rothe; T Marr; J K Taubenberger Journal: Arch Virol Date: 2007-06-01 Impact factor: 2.574