Direct immunoperoxidase technique using a horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated Fab' fragment of human monoclonal antibody (humab C7), designated HRP-C7, was evaluated as a rapid diagnosis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. A total of 138 clinical specimens consisting of 124 urine samples and 14 oral swabs were examined for CMV by the direct HRP-C7 staining in comparison with conventional virus isolation. The number of CMV-positive samples by each method was 40 (29.0%) for the former and 37 (26.8%) for the latter, respectively. By HRP-C7 staining, CMV was identifiable within 24 hr after inoculation. By conventional isolation method, an average of 10.3 days had passed before cytopathic effect characteristic of CMV appeared in the cell culture. Some false-positive and false-negative cases were discussed in relation to toxicity of urine samples, storage of the samples, and amount of CMV in the sample. The sensitivity and specificity of HRP-C7 method against conventional isolation method were 89.2% and 93.1%, respectively. Thus, HRP-C7 staining is useful for a rapid diagnosis of CMV infections, Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important pathogen not only for fetuses, but also for immunocompromised hosts such as patients with organ transplantation, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), or neoplastic diseases. Those patients are at high risk for active CMV infection, with CMV pneumonitis being critical event (18). In addition, through its own immunosuppressive effect, active CMV infection itself predisposes the patients to secondary infections by bacteria, fungi or protozoa (3). Therefore, the rapid confirmation of active CMV infections in those patients is essential for early initiation of anti-CMV treatments (21). The most reliable diagnosis of active CMV infections is virus isolation. However, CMV grows so slowly in cell culture that detection of CMV by its typical cytopathic effect (CPE) requires a long incubation for weeks.CMV produces a number of early antigens (EA) in the infected cells before viral 1015