[Detecting respiratory syncytial virus in respiratory epithelial cells in adult patients by electron microscopy and immune electron microscopy]

In order to evaluate the value of electron microscopy (EM) in diagnosing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in adults, the exfoliated cells from nasopharynx of 97 RSV positive patients were examined by EM and the gold labelling technique for immune electron microscopy. The viral particles with RSV features were found at the surface of the exfoliated cells only in a few samples by EM, and the specific gold labelling were observed in the immune electron microscopy (IEM). The results showed that RSV is one of the causative agents for adult respiratory infection.