Fecal analysis for protozoa is a standard laboratory method for diagnosing protozoosis and helminthiasis, which is performed in adults and children. With its help, protozoa that parasitize in the distal intestine, as well as helminths, are detected or excluded. There are 20 species of protozoa that live in the human intestine, of which 8 are pathogenic, and 12 are activated under favorable conditions.
WHO statistics: 9 out of 10 people on Earth are infected with various helminths. More often than others, these are pinworms and roundworms. Fecal analysis becomes necessary under such circumstances because parasites often do not show clinical manifestations in good immunity. But such a person becomes a source of infection for others.
In addition, parasite larvae can get into fish, animal meat and from there penetrate into the human body. That is why the analysis of feces for eggs of helminths and protozoa plays such an important role.
Protozoa can exist inin the form of sexually mature forms (vegetative forms) and in the form of cysts - this is such a special form of life of parasites, when they are, as it were, in hibernation, do not feed and do not multiply, waiting for a favorable moment. At the same time, their danger is completely preserved.
Indications for testing
Such tests are relevant for those who are at risk for infection:
- stay in a closed team (kindergartens, schools, boarding schools, barracks, places of detention, etc.);
- impossibility of maintaining regular hygiene due to work in the fields;
- presence of agricultural livestock on the farm, dog breeding.
Analysis of feces for protozoa is required when:
- placing a child in kindergarten, school, summer camps for children;
- hiring adults;
- obtaining permission from a doctor to visit the pool - identifying carriers;
- medical examinations of medical, trade workers, catering representatives, pharmaceutical products.
Such surveys are carried out every six months. It is necessary to pass a fecal test for helminths and protozoa for those who have some suspicious he alth complaints:
- unreasonable weight loss;
- pale skin;
- weakness, fatigue after minor physical exertion;
- shortness of breath without signs of a cold or heart disease;
- irritability;
- bad dream;
- myalgia and arthralgia;
- heaviness in the liver;
- bitter mouth and morning sickness;
- dyspepsia;
- flatulence;
- tenesmus;
- grinding teeth at night;
- periodic pain around the navel;
- itching in the anus.
Children and adults may have a history of frequent bathing in rivers and lakes with ingestion of water, constant use of well water, a tendency to eat raw fish.
Analysis of feces is also necessary after returning from tropical countries with their exotic cuisine, with poor hygiene conditions. In young children, with their restless behavior, poor sleep, refusal to breastfeed and constant crying and screaming, you should immediately collect feces for analysis for worms and protozoa.
Surrender Goals
Research frequency may vary. It depends on the purpose. Most often this is prevention, and the analysis of feces for eggs of helminths and protozoa is done 1 time per year. In this case, a referral from a doctor is not required.
Barrier measure - biomass is submitted for research to prevent the spread of worms in the family, children's and work groups, etc. Such an analysis of feces for eggs of worms and protozoa is submitted as directed by a doctor.
How to properly prepare for a study?
In general, the preparation is simple:
- for a week, stop taking medications, especially potent ones - these are antibiotics, and enzymes, and antiparasitics;
- for 2 days - laxatives;
- drugs that color feces are contraindicated - containingiron and bismuth.
Mushrooms, liver, marinades, bran, soda are excluded from the diet for 2 days; reduce consumption of fruits and vegetables.
The day before the delivery of feces, you need to drink more water, take a walk at night, and give babies a stomach massage. Any examination of the intestine is done 2 weeks before the analysis or after it. During menstruation, fecal analysis is not taken so that there is no blood ingress.
Rules for fecal analysis
It is necessary to purchase a special container for the delivery of feces at the pharmacy. It is convenient in that it has a special lid and a spatula for collecting feces. It also comes with an adhesive sticker, where the patient's data is entered. Matchboxes and glass jars are not recommended for stool collection.
A clean and dry potty can be used to collect feces in a child's home. Be careful not to get urine in the stool.
The baby is laid out on a clean diaper at about the time when the baby is emptying. Mom recognizes it by grunting, straining.
Feces are collected with a plastic disposable spoon. With disposable diapers, they do not take feces from them. In extreme cases, you can make a fence from a layer that is not adjacent to the surface of the diaper. Such precautions are necessary for the purity of the analysis. Feces after an enema or rectal suppositories are not suitable for analysis.
How much feces do you need?
How to take a stool test for protozoa? Morning feces are taken about 50 g, and with loose stools - 1-2 tsp. The sample is made from 3 sides of the fecal sausage:
- front(initial part of feces);
- last helping;
- from the side parts of the mass.
If crawling helminths are visible on the surface, they are also sent to the container with feces.
If the bowel movement was in the evening, the feces in the container are wrapped in a bag and stored separately from the food in the refrigerator until morning. Ideally no more than 8 hours.
It is forbidden to freeze or heat feces. In he althcare facilities, preservatives are used for this.
The most accurate analysis is obtained when the analysis is carried out in the first hour. When donating feces for giardia or amoeba, they do not store it, but give it warm, for the first 40 minutes.
The amount of feces collected should be 1/3 of the sterile container. The result is usually ready on the same day in the evening or the next morning.
Where to do a stool test?
Fecal analysis for eggworm and protozoa is carried out in any clinic with a laboratory. The direction for analysis is taken from the district nurse. The analysis is valid from the date of issue within 10 days.
Emergency analysis
In practice, the analysis of feces for protozoa and worms does not happen cito. Except in emergencies where urgent hospitalization is required with results in hand.
Histology of feces
Histological examination of feces is considered the most accurate. It can not only detect the presence of infection, larvae and cysts, but also test new antiparasitic drugs on them with further evaluation of the result.
Macroscopy
She is armed with a magnifying glass orstereoscope, with which you can detect mature worms or their fragments. All suspicious parts are taken from the surface of the feces with tweezers and laid out on a Petri dish, where they are examined with a magnifying glass. Or under a microscope on a glass slide.
Microscopy
Analysis of feces for protozoa is, first of all, microscopy of a stained smear of feces in order to identify parasites. It allows you to find eggs of worms (coproovoscopy) or larvae (lavroscopy) in feces, scrapings, sputum and bile masses. Under the microscope, the eggs of ascaris, broad tapeworm, schistosomes, and liver fluke are revealed. It includes several methods.
Thick stroke method
Analysis of feces for protozoan cysts and their vegetative forms. A pea-sized stool sample is applied and rubbed onto a glass slide, after which the glass is covered with a special hygroscopic cellophane strip impregnated with special substances and dyes (green malachite, phenol, etc.).
In this state, the mixture is aged for 30 minutes. Viewing in this case is accelerated by 30 times. It should be noted that the analysis of cysts is not entirely informative, because the cysts of the parasites are similar in many ways.
Sedimentation (deposition) method
The material is centrifuged to obtain a sediment. The essence of the method is the difference in the specific gravity of the reagent and helminth eggs. The eggs are concentrated in the sediment, which is examined under a microscope. The method is used for eggs with a high specific gravity.
Flotation method
This is a microscopic analysis of feces for protozoa by enrichment or flotation. Here is the same basis, but the eggs of the worms float and concentrate in a film on the surface. The film is then placed under a microscope.
The resulting feces are pretreated in a flotation solution. Sometimes these methods are combined.
A single study is 50% informative, it only reveals the presence of invasion. But for the diagnosis and choice of treatment, a one-time study is not enough. A 3-fold study with a week break is required. Normally, there should be no helminths or parasites in the stool.
Scraping for enterobiosis
Preparations are not needed here. Scraping or perianal prints are taken immediately after waking up in the morning, before all hygiene procedures and defecation. This approach is needed for the reliability of the analysis.
Contraindication may be a skin injury in the anus. Since the material must be examined within the first 2 hours, it is better to take it in a hospital or a specialized laboratory. Scraping is found and tapering.
Carrying out a scraping
There are three ways to scrape:
- stick in a sterile container;
- with a spatula on the glass;
- on the glass with adhesive tape.
In the latter case, it is important not to touch either the tape or the glass. For a few seconds, you need to attach the tape to the folds of the anus, then transfer the tape to the glass.
Stick back like thisso that no bubbles form. The glass is immersed in a sterile container.
If adult pinworms are found during the collection of the analysis (they look like small white worms), then they are dipped in 75% alcohol and also sent for analysis. Material Requirements: Scraping must be examined within 2 hours, otherwise performance drops.
The analysis of feces for helminths and protozoa is used not only to detect them, but also to control the ongoing treatment after it is completed. For an accurate diagnosis, only one stool test is not enough - the most revealing serological test with the determination of antibodies in the blood.
Disadvantages of the method
With a small number of parasites in the collected feces, the result may be false negative. The same picture arises if it was not possible to catch the moment of isolation of eggs or the protozoa themselves in accordance with their life cycle. Therefore, in the presence of clinical symptoms and a negative analysis of feces, they are taken again in a week.
What is a coprogram?
It differs from the usual fecal analysis in its detailed thorough examination.
Coprogram is not just an analysis for the detection of parasite eggs, but also a method for assessing the functioning of the digestive tract. This includes the definition:
- evacuation functions of the intestines and stomach;
- enzymatic activity or inactivity of the digestive tract;
- state of the microflora of the small intestine;
- presence of any inflammation in different parts of the digestive tract;
- hidden gastrointestinal bleeding;
- parasites and their eggs inkale.
This analysis is carried out only with warm feces.
Research results
When conducting an analysis, the laboratory assistant fills out a form in which he puts a mark “-” or “+” - the presence or absence of parasites. The type of identified helminth is indicated below. For the reliability of the result, feces are taken 3 times with a break of 10 days.
On amoeba and giardia, feces are generally given 5 times. In children, feces for worms are taken three times with an interval of 2-3 days.
Only for all 3 tests, a negative result is true. Otherwise, treatment is necessary. Bottom line: fecal analysis is necessary to confirm the clinic or assumptions. Otherwise, no diagnosis is made.
