ABSTRACT
Trichomonas vaginalis infections are usually asymptomatic or can result in nonspecific clinical symptoms, which makes laboratory-based detection of this protozoan parasite essential for diagnosis and treatment. We report the development of a battery of highly sensitive and specific PCR assays for detection of T. vaginalis in urine, a noninvasive specimen, and development of a protocol for differentiating among Trichomonas species that commonly infect humans.
Subject(s)
Clinical Laboratory Techniques/methods , Molecular Diagnostic Techniques/methods , Parasitology/methods , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Trichomonas Infections/diagnosis , Trichomonas vaginalis/isolation & purification , Urine/parasitology , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Sensitivity and Specificity , Trichomonas vaginalis/classification , Trichomonas vaginalis/geneticsABSTRACT
To determine seropositivity for Enterocytozoon bieneusi in the Czech Republic, we tested 115 serum samples from various groups. We found that 20% from HIV-positive persons, 33% from persons with occupational exposure to animals, and 10% from healthy persons were positive by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Proteins of 32 kDa were detected in serum samples from seropositive persons.
Subject(s)
Blood Donors/statistics & numerical data , Enterocytozoon , HIV Infections/complications , Microsporidiosis/complications , Microsporidiosis/epidemiology , Population Surveillance , Czech Republic/epidemiology , HIV Infections/epidemiology , Humans , Occupational Exposure/statistics & numerical data , Seroepidemiologic StudiesABSTRACT
With the aim to evaluate the circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) levels in relation to the different clinical phases of Schistosoma sp. infection a sandwich ELISA using monoclonal antibody 5H11 was performed. The sera of three groups of 25 Brazilian patients with acute, instestinal and hepatosplenic forms of S. mansoni infections were tested and compared to a non-infected control group. Patients and control groups were matched for age and sex and the number of eggs per gram of faeces was equally distributed among the three patient groups. Sensitivity of 100 per cent, 72 per cent, 52 per cent of the essays was observed for the intestinal, hepatosplenic and acute toxemic groups respectively. The specificity was 100 per cent. Intestinal and hepatosplenic groups presented CCA levels significantly higher in comparison to those observed for acute patients (F-ratio = 2,524; p = 0.000 and F-ratio = 6.314; p = 0.015 respectively). There was no significant difference of CCA serum levels between hepatosplenic and intestinal groups (F-ratio = 1,026; p = 0.316).
