05), we used �� values rather than raked ��, which was employed in a previous study comparing Flotac with the FECT and the Kato-Katz technique for the diagnosis Dorsomorphin chemical structure of S. mansoni and soil-transmitted helminths (15). RESULTS Study cohort. From the 351 study participants selected for the epidemiologic baseline data collection pertaining to parasitic infections in the Taabo HDSS, 222 individuals provided sufficiently large stool specimens for the preservation of 2 to 3 g of stool in 5% formaldehyde (Fig. 1). After the standardization process for the Flotac-400 dual technique, 113 remaining stool samples were subjected to both the Flotac-400 dual technique and the FECT, with 108 specimens being suitable for comparison of the methods. There were slightly more female than male participants (55 versus 53).

The median age of our study cohort was 13 years (mean age, 18.7 years; standard deviation, 16.3 years; range, 1 to 69 years). Fig. 1. Compliance and final cohort for a study comparing the diagnostic accuracy of the Flotac-400 dual technique and the FECT for the detection of intestinal protozoa in stool samples obtained from participants in L��l��bl��, south-central … Prevalence of intestinal protozoon infections. Table 1 shows the prevalence of all eight species of intestinal protozoa identified in the current study according to the FECT, the Flotac-400 dual technique (shown are combined results using both FS4 and FS7, as well as separate results obtained from FS4 or FS7 only), or the combination of both methods, including kappa measures of agreement between the two methods.

According to our diagnostic gold standard, Entamoeba coli was the most frequent intestinal protozoon, with an overall prevalence of 87.0% (95% CI, 79.2 to 92.7%). The levels of prevalence of E. histolytica/E. dispar and Blastocystis hominis were 38.9% (95% CI, 29.7 to 48.8%) and 30.6% (95% CI, 22.1 to 40.2%). G. intestinalis was found in 11.1% (95% CI, 5.9 to 18.6%) of the 108 stool samples subjected to both methods. During the microscopic examination of the Flotac reading disk, we regularly observed deformed cysts of E. coli (Fig. 2). However, species identification was still possible due to the uniformity of this phenotypic transformation in all E. coli-positive stool samples. Helminth eggs were found by both methods (data not shown). Table 1.

Prevalence of intestinal protozoon infections determined by the formalin-ether concentration Carfilzomib technique (FECT), the Flotac-400 dual technique (results obtained from FS4 and FS7 combined and results from each FS singly), and a combination of both techniques … Fig. 2. The intestinal protozoon E. coli as seen under a light microscope when examining human stool samples using FECT (A) and the Flotac-400 dual technique (B). Comparison of diagnostic methods.