Three-Step Stool Examination for Cryptosporidiosis in 10 Homosexual Men with Protracted Watery Diarrhea

Abstract

Cryptosporidiosis, a zoonosis caused by Cryptosporidium species, is a newly recognized coccidial protozoan infection causing severe protracted watery diarrhea in humans. In August 1981, the first case of cryptosporidiosis in a homosexual man with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was reported; diagnosis was determined by intestinal biopsy. It is necessary to adopt a simple laboratory diagnostic procedure to screen large numbers of suspected cases. A three-step stool examination was developed to demonstrate Cryptosporidium oocysts and the diagnostic and infective stages of the infection in 10 homosexual men with AIDS. This is a less invasive, less costly, and more sensitive test than intestinal biopsy and has been designed to prevent confusion caused by yeast cells that are frequently present in stool, leading to a false diagnosis. The examination consists of preliminary differential determination by iodine wet mount, definitive identification by modified Kinyoun acid-fast staining, and a more effective method of concentrating oocysts, by Sheather's sugar cover-slip flotation method.

Etiologies of acute, persistent, and dysenteric diarrheas in adults in Bangui, Central African Republic, in relation to human immunodeficiency virus serostatus.

“…Microsporidia were detected by a modified trichrome stain with a high concentration of chromotrope 2 R. 6 Stool specimens were also used in the three-step detection method for coccidia. 7 The modified Kinyoun acid fast stain was used for detection of mycobacteria.…”

Travelers' Diarrhea in West Africa and Mexico: Fecal Transport Systems and Liquid Bismuth Subsalicylate for Self-Therapy

“…One slide was stained by using the trichrome method [10] and was examined microscopically for fecal leukocytes, Entamoeba histolytica, and Giardia lamblia. The other slide was stained by using a modified Kinyoun method for Cryptosporidium [11]. The MF samples were analyzed by using the method of Blagg et al [12],except that iodine was added to the stool sediment just before exami~ation.…”

Cryptosporidiosis en Medellín. Prevalencia de cryptosporidium en muestras fecales diarréicas en 6 laboratorios de Medellín, estudio de 10 casos

“…El diagnóstico de la criptosporidiosis se hace por el hallazgo de ooquistes en materias fecales por métodos directos o de concentración, coloreados con Ziel-Neelsen modificado (20)(21). También se han utilizado otras coloraciones como Giemsa, AuraminaRodamina y Safranina, pero han sido menos específicos (22).…”