Simultaneous seeding and infecting of shell vials for rapid detection of cytomegalovirus infection.

Fifty cytomegalovirus isolates were used to infect shell vials containing confluent MRC-5 cell monolayers and shell vials which were seeded with MRC-5 cells at the time of inoculation. All 50 of the isolates were detected by immunofluorescence in shell vials containing confluent monolayers, whereas 39 (78%) of the isolates were detected in shell vials that had been seeded and inoculated simultaneously (P less than 0.001). Preformed monolayers of cells in shell vials provide the most sensitive system for the detection of cytomegalovirus infection.