الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract The present study was conducted on 46 infants and 74 preschool children attending the outpatient clinics of Abou Elreish Hospitals including both symptomatic and asymptomatic participants. All stool samples were subjected to microscopical examination using both direct wet smear and concentration technique, direct immunofluorescent assay (DFA) andimmunochromatographic card test (ICT). In the present study and by using extended reference standard,the number of infected infants was 6 (13%)while among preschool children the number of cases was 10 (13.5%). The sensitivity and specificity of stool microscopic examination of a wet mount with and without concentration was 68.8% and 100% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of ICT for detection of Giardia was 100% and 95.2%, respectively, while the DFA showed a 100 % sensitivity and a 100% specificity. Microscopy remains the primary diagnostic method for diagnosis of giardiasis, however, DFA and ICT can be useful as an alternative tools, being simple, yet costly, with high sensitivity and specificity |