| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 2
| Issue : 1 | Page : 20-23 |
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Evaluation of Ziehl-Neelsen staining, auramine phenol staining, antigen detection enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction, for the diagnosis of intestinal cryptosporidiosis
Sumeeta Khurana1, Poonam Sharma1, Aman Sharma2, Nancy Malla1
1 Department of Parasitology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
2 Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
Correspondence Address:
Sumeeta Khurana
Department of Parasitology, Research Block-A, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh - 110 012
India
 Source of Support: The work has been supported by institutional Research
Grant of Post Graduate of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2229-5070.97234
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Background and Objectives: Cryptosporidiosis is a very important opportunistic infection and is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in HIV/AIDS patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate Ziehl-Neelsen staining, auramine phenol staining, antigen detection enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction, for the diagnosis of intestinal cryptosporidiosis. Materials and Methods: The study was designed to determine the efficacy of modified Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN), Auramine-Phenol (AP) staining, antigen detection enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of cryptosporidia in 671 HIV-seropositive patients, 353 HIV-seronegative patients including 198 children with diarrhea and 50 apparently healthy adults. Results: Cryptosporidium was detected in 26 (3.9%), 37 (5.5%), 32 (4.8%) and 40 (6%) HIV-seropositive and 8 (2.3%), 10 (2.9%), 9 (2.6%) and 9 (2.6%) HIV-seronegative patients by ZN staining, AP staining, antigen detection ELISA and PCR, respectively. None of the healthy controls were infected with Cryptosporidium. Based on criteria of 'true positive' samples, i.e. positive by any two of the four techniques out of ZN, AP, antigen detection ELISA and PCR, sensitivity of ZN and ELISA was 79.06% and 95.35% respectively. AP and PCR were found to be 100% sensitive. Specificity of ZN and ELISA was 100% while specificity of AP and PCR was 99.59% and 99.39% respectively. Conclusions: Auramine phenol staining is a rapid, sensitive and specific technique for diagnosis of intestinal cryptosporidiosis. |
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