FLOTAC: A promising technique for detecting helminth eggs in human faeces☆
Received 19 February 2009; received in revised form 7 May 2009; accepted 7 May 2009.
Summary
There is a tendency to neglect diagnostic issues in the era of ‘preventive chemotherapy’ in human helminthiases. However, accurate diagnosis cannot be overemphasized for adequate patient management and monitoring of community-based control programmes. Implicit is a diagnostic dilemma: the more effective interventions are in reducing helminth egg excretion, the less sensitive direct parasitological tests become. Here, experiences gained thus far with the FLOTAC technique for diagnosing common soil-transmitted helminth infections are summarized. A single FLOTAC has higher sensitivity than multiple Kato–Katz thick smears in detecting low-intensity infections. Further validation of the FLOTAC technique in different epidemiological settings is warranted, including diagnosis of intestinal schistosomiasis and food-borne trematodiases.
aDepartment of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, P.O. Box, CH–4002 Basel, Switzerland
bHelminth Control Laboratory Unguja, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, P.O. Box 236, Mianzini, Zanzibar, Tanzania
cCentre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, 01 BP 1303, Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire
dDepartment of Pathology and Animal Health, CREMOPAR Regione Campania, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via della Veterinaria 1, 80137 Naples, Italy
eUFR Biosciences, Université de Cocody-Abidjan, 22 BP 770, Abidjan 22, Côte d’Ivoire
fWolfson Wellcome Biomedical Laboratories, Biomedical Parasitology Division, Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
gDepartment of Medical and Diagnostic Services, Swiss Tropical Institute, P.O. Box, CH–4002 Basel, Switzerland
☆ Based on a presentation to the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene Research in Progress meeting on 18 December 2008. This oral presentation was awarded second prize at the meeting.
ABSTRACT