[Laboratory diagnosis of viral diseases of the skin (author's transl)].

In order to establish the diagnosis of viral diseases with clinical manifestations in the skin, frequently the help of a virus laboratory is needed. Not even classical childhood diseases such as measles and rubella can safely be diagnosed by the clinician. Today, in many cases diagnosis is possible within hours after the arrival of clinical specimens in the laboratory. Only in cases of enterovirus infection and tropical diseases has the virologist to resort to the classical time-consuming methods of direct (virus isolation) or indirect (serologic) diagnostic virology.