Use of a saline gradient for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis

The development of novel methods for parasitological diagnosis that are both highly sensitive and low in cost has been strongly recommended by the World Health Organization. In this study, a new technique for diagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni is proposed based on the differential sedimentation of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 104; no. 5; pp. 720 - 723
Main Authors:	Coelho, Paulo Marcos Z, Jurberg, Arnon D, Oliveira, Áureo A, Katz, Naftale
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Brazil Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 01-08-2009 Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)
Subjects:	Animals diagnosis faeces Feces - parasitology Humans Parasite Egg Count - instrumentation Parasite Egg Count - methods PARASITOLOGY Schistosoma Schistosoma mansoni Schistosoma mansoni - diagnosis - faeces Schistosoma mansoni - isolation & purification Schistosomiasis mansoni - diagnosis Sensitivity and Specificity Sodium Chloride TROPICAL MEDICINE Schistosoma mansoni diagnosis faeces
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Summary:	The development of novel methods for parasitological diagnosis that are both highly sensitive and low in cost has been strongly recommended by the World Health Organization. In this study, a new technique for diagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni is proposed based on the differential sedimentation of eggs when subjected to a slow continuous flux of 3% saline solution through a porous plaque. This influx suspends low-density faecal material, effectively cleaning the sample. The remaining sediment covering the porous plaque surface is then transferred to a glass slide and examined under a bright field microscope. Twelve Kato-Katz slides were used for comparison in the present study. Our results suggest that the saline gradient method detects a signifi-cantly higher number of eggs than the 12 Kato-Katz slides (p < 0.0001). We also found microscopic inspection to be quicker and easier with our newly described method. After cleaning the sample, the obtained sediment can also be conserved in a 10% formaldehyde solution and examined for at least 45 days later without statistically significant egg count differences.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	1678-8060 0074-0276 1678-8060 0074-0276
DOI:	10.1590/S0074-02762009000500010