Application of immunofluorescence technique to clinical virology

Virologists for many years have striven to achieve the goal of rapid virus diagnosis. This book has described in detail one of the methods. The achievement of success in a method of rapid virus diagnosis cannot, in itself, be a final aim, otherwise the method would degenerate solely into a rapid routine method for identifying virus agents and the virologist would become a biological philatelist. An applied science, to justify itself, must bring benefit to the main clientele, which is in this case the physicians and the patients. In this chapter it is intended to evaluate the applications of rapid immunofluorescence diagnosis in clinical medicine.