Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
Volume 9, Number 3—March 2003
Synopsis

Electron Microscopy for Rapid Diagnosis of Emerging Infectious Agents1

Paul R. Hazelton*Comments to Author  and Hans R. Gelderblom†
Author affiliations: *University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; †Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany

Main Article

Figure 6

A–E. Comparison of clinically relevant viral agents associated with skin lesions. A–C show poxviruses indistinguishable in appearance from variola virus, the agent of smallpox. The slightly rounded, brick-shaped virions measure about 270 by 350 nm. Two types of particles may be seen. M, or Mulberry forms show a 10- to 20-nm diameter short-tubular or beaded surface (M). Capsular, or C forms, partly penetrated by the stain, are recognized by a 30-nm membrane (C): A. Molluscum contagiosum (mollusci

Figure 6. A–EComparison of clinically relevant viral agents associated with skin lesionsA–C show poxviruses indistinguishable in appearance from variola virus, the agent of smallpoxThe slightly rounded, brick-shaped virions measure about 270 by 350 nmTwo types of particles may be seenM, or Mulberry forms show a 10- to 20-nm diameter short-tubular or beaded surface (M)Capsular, or C forms, partly penetrated by the stain, are recognized by a 30-nm membrane (C): AMolluscum contagiosum (molluscipoxvirus) virions from skin lesions observed in an adult; BVaccinia virus vaccine strain WR (orthopoxvirus) from cell culture; CEctromelia virus (orthopoxvirus) from culture materialDParapox viruses measure up to190 by 300 nm and are more distinctly ovoidTubules, 10 to 20 nm wide and approximately 1,000-nm long, spiral around the virion, giving a distinctive crosshatched appearanceEHerpesvirus particles from a skin lesion of a primary varicella zoster infection observed in an adultDirect electron microscopic shows two virionsThe envelopes are broken, liberating the 100-nm nucleocapsidFCell culture supernatant from a patient with an infantile respiratory tract infectionThe enveloped virions are studded with tiny surface spikesThe 18-nm helical nucleocapsids have been released from disintegrating virionsThe nucleocapsids and envelope details are typical of paramyxovirusesA–B, phosphotungstic acid, C–F, uranyl acetateAll prints at the same magnification, bar = 100 nm.

Main Article

1Both authors contributed equally to this review.

Page created: December 07, 2010
Page updated: December 07, 2010
Page reviewed: December 07, 2010
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external