TABLE 2.

Comparison of sensitivities of techniques for detecting infectious rubella virus or viral RNA using specimens from Anhui and Henan

Techniquea	No. of patients with clinical rubellab	No. of positive samples	% Positive samplesc
RT-PCR	22	15	68
RT-PCR + hybridization	22	21	91
IFA	22	17	77
Culture + RT-PCR passage 1	22	17	77
Total after passage 2	22	17	77
Total after passage 3	22	17	77
Replicon cells	22	17	77

^aSee Table 1 for results for individual specimens.

^bThree patients were rubella IgM negative, and two patients were not tested for IgM.

^cPercentage of clinical rubella cases that tested positive.