The detectability of helminth eggs from feces by cellophane thick smear technique

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Abstract
The efficacy of the cellophane thick smear(CTS) technique was reassessed for detecting helminths eggs such as Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Clonorchis sinensis, in comparsion with the formalin-ether(F-E) one, with repeated smears per case. From the fecal samples of 411 ROK Army soldiers, a total of 3,288 smears were made and examined; 4 by CTS and 4 by F-E techniques. The expected egg detectability with one, two, three or four smears by each technique was mathemativally calculated. The results were as follows: 1. When the results of all 8 smears per case were integrated, the number of cases with Ascaris egg were 54(13.1%), Trichuris 125(30.4%) and Clonorchis 33(8.0%). Some other kinds of helminths eggs and protozoan cysts were found from a few cases each. 2. The calculated detectability of Ascaris eggs by CTS technique was fairly high(95.8~96.3%) with 1-4 smears, while that by F-E technique was not so high(73.1~88.9%). 3. In case of Trchuris eggs, the egg detectability by CTS technique with 1-4 smears was a little lower(62.2~86.4%) than that by F-E technique(73.4 ~ 91.2%). 4. The detectability of Clonorchis eggs with 1-4 smears by CTS technique was the lowest(44.7~60.6%) among the three helminths as well as much lower than that by F-E technique(67.4~87.9%).