Abstract

Electron microscopy, immune electron microscopy and complement fixation as methods of detecting rotavirus in the stools of young children with gastroenteritis were compared in a blind study during the winter of 1975-6. Complement fixation was the simplest to perform, was as sensitive as the other two, and allowed a quantitative measurement of viral excretion. Absorption of faecal extracts with fetal calf serum usually removed the anticomplementary activity of faecal extracts.