Detection of Cryptosporidium spp. in Diarrheic Immunocompetent Patients in Beni-Suef, Egypt: Insight into Epidemiology and Diagnosis

Cryptosporidium species is an important cause of gastrointestinal infections globally. This study aimed to shed light on its role in diarrheic immunocompetent patients in Beni-Suef, Egypt and to compare three diagnostic methods. Two hundred diarrheic patients, 37±16.8 year old, were enrolled. Stool samples were examined by light microscopy, using modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain (MZN) for Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts. Coproantigens were detected by sandwich ELISA. DNA molecular diagnosis was done by nested PCR. PCR yielded the highest detection rates (21.0%), compared to ELISA (12.5%) and MZN staining method (9.5%). The higher infection rates were in 20–40 year-old group, followed by 40–60 year-old. Association between epidemiologic factors was statistically not significant; positivity and gender, clinical manifestations, residence, source or water, or contact with animals. Cryptosporidiosis is an important enteric parasitic infection in Beni-Suef and PCR remains the gold standard for diagnosis.

Evaluation on a modified Ziehl-Neelsen stainin the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

Objective Toevaluatea modified Ziehl-Neelsen(Z-N) stain in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis. Methods Cerebrospinal fluid specimens from 35 patients were stained by using the modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining. Re-sults The positive rate was 94.29% in 35 patients with tuberculous meningitisand the intracellular acid-fast bacilli was detected in 53.40%of all specimens. One case was stained positive in 15 patients with non-tuberculous meningitis. Con-clusion The modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain not only significantly improves the detection rates of tuberculous meningitisbut alsois able to identify intracellular M.tuberculosisin cerebrospinal fluidspecimen.Thus, the modified Z-N stain can be a convenient tool for diagnosing tuberculous meningitis.