Open AccessComparison of three microscopic techniques for diagnosis of Cyclospora cayetanensis
Author(s) -
Kimura Kenji,
Kumar Rai Shiba,
Takemasa Kaoru,
Ishibashi Yoshinobu,
Kawabata Masato,
Belosevic Miodrag,
Uga Shoji
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2004.tb09765.x
Subject(s) - feces , cyclospora cayetanensis , microbiology and biotechnology , human feces , biology , sedimentation , veterinary medicine , chromatography , chemistry , medicine , sediment , paleontology , cryptosporidium
Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts in the feces of humans from Kathmandu, Nepal were identified on the basis of their size and other morphological characteristics. We compared the detection of C. cayetanensis oocysts in the feces using three microscopic techniques such as formalin‐ether sedimentation, sucrose centrifugal floatation, and direct smear. Standard procedures were used for the formalin‐ether sedimentation and the sucrose centrifugal floatation techniques using 0.5 g of feces, however, the direct smear technique was performed using 10 μl of fecal suspension (0.005 g of feces) and observed under the fluorescent microscope. Of the 403 samples examined, 21 samples were positive for oocysts by all three techniques. Therefore, in these 21 samples, the number of oocysts recovered by the three techniques were compared. The highest number of oocyst was obtained by the sucrose centrifugal floatation technique. In contrast, the formalin‐ether sedimentation technique was found to be the least reliable concentration technique for the detection of Cyclospora in human feces. Surprisingly, the direct smear technique was found to be an effective and rapid technique for diagnosis of C. cayetanensis making it a technique of choice for routine epidemiological investigation of the prevalence of this infection in human populations.