A family outbreak of gastroenteritis involving three adults and three children is described in which diarrhoea and vomiting were the main clinical features. One infant died in whom no pathogens could be detected in either small or large intestinal postmortem samples. Stool samples from two symptomatic siblings contained rotaviruses as demonstrated by electron microscopy. Both of these faecal samples were negative when assayed in a group A specific rotavirus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and subsequent genomic analysis of these rotaviruses was suggestive of group C rotavirus. Serological evidence showed that these atypical rotaviruses were members of serogroup C. Other atypical rotaviruses in faecal samples from sporadic cases in symptomatic children were detected over a similar time period and location. These had electrophoretic RNA profiles similar to those in the family outbreak. Furthermore, seroepidemiological studies detected group C rotavirus antibody in blood donors resident in the location of the family outbreak.

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SUMMARY An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system which detects and simultaneously types herpes simplex virus antigens in clinical specimens from patients with genital herpes has been compared with standard tissue culture isolation. Although more sensitive than a similar method previously described and also more sensitive than electron microscopy and immunofluorescence, ELISA did not detect all the viruses isolated in tissue culture. Costs were comparable. The speed of obtaining the result together with knowledge of the type causing infection are useful when antiviral chemotherapy is envisaged and when considering the likelihood of recurrences.

Material and methods CELLSPrimary human embryo kidney (HEK) HEK cells were prepared by the overnight digestion at 4°C followed by one-hour digestion at 37°C of fresh human embryo kidneys with 0*05% collagenase (Sigma) and 0*25% trypsin (Flow). The cells were washed twice in Eagle's MEM and then seeded in 0*5 inch (12.5 mm) tubes in 0-5 ml Eagle's MEM (Flow) containing 8% fetal calf serum (FCS), 2 mmol/l glutamine (Flow) 0*176% sodium bicarbonate and SPA (streptomycin 100 ,ug/ml, penicillin 60 ,mg/ml, aerosporin 50 IU/ml). On reaching confluence the cells were maintained in 1 ml of the above medium with only 2% FCS and with 2-5 IU/ ml fungizone. 996 on 9 May 2018 by guest. Protected by copyright.

SUMMARY Isolates of herpes simplex virus which had previously been typed by restriction enzyme analysis were typed again with a commercial ELISA system using polyclonal antibodies. There was complete correlation between the two techniques. Although restriction is more precise and definitive, when typing only is required the simplicity of ELISA makes it the preferred technique.For a long time the existence of two variants of herpes simplex virus (HSV), differentiated on clinical grounds, has been apparent. More recently, methods of typing such as plaque morphology,' differential neutralisation,2 immunoperoxidase staining,3 DNA density analysis,4 guanine plus cytosine content,5 and the formation of intranuclear tubular structures6 have been described. These methods are generally accurate and satisfactory, but are tedious, time consuming, or costly.The types of HSV are more definitively differentiated by analysis of the viral polypeptides7 and by restriction enzyme analysis of the viral DNA.8 The latter technique especially is highly precise; it can not only differentiate the types but also the subtypes of HSV and thus is useful in studying the epidemiology of these infections."0-'2 Nevertheless, although it has been miniaturised and simplified'3 to permit the typing of many isolates at low cost, it is not sufficiently simple for use in a routine virus laboratory with limited facilities. Therefore, when only typing rather than subtyping is required, other methods may be more suitable.The cross reactivity between the two types of HSV, which confuses conventional serotyping, may be eliminated by the use of antisera extensively absorbed against heterotypic virus or by the development of monoclonal antibodies, which have now been raised against epitopes which are largely both type specific and type universal.'4 However,