Performance Evaluation of Direct Wet Mount Technique With Respect to Formol Ether Concentration Technique, at the Bamenda Regional Hospital

Abstract

Intestinal parasites are neglected tropical diseases which still cause tremendous morbidity, despite recommendations for massive de worming by the world health organization. The direct wet mount technique has over the years been used as the routine method for the diagnosis of intestinal parasites in the current study area. Consequently, it is essential to evaluate its diagnostic performance in relation to a more sensitive but rarely used technique. This study was therefore designed to evaluate the performance of wet mount technique with respect to the formol ether concentration technique. Out of the 212 examined patients, 06.60% (14/212) and 16.98% (36/212) tested positive by direct wet mount and formol ether concentration techniques respectively. The following intestinal parasites were diagnosed; Gardia lamblia, Entamoeba coli, Entamoebahistolytica, Isosporabustchli, Fasciola hepatica, Enterobiusvermicularis and Hookworm. There was a significant [P=0.0424]difference between the test results by both techniques. Thekappa values between both techniques was lower for the diagnosis of helminthic than for protozoan infections. Therefore, the formol ether concentration technique should be used to complement the routine direct wet mount technique in the study area.