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Comparison of Four Parasitological Techniques for Laboratory Diagnosis of Eggs from Spirometra spp. in Wild Mammal Fecal Samples

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to compare the performance of four different microscopic coproparasitological techniques in relation to egg recovering and the frequency of alterations in the eggs observed through each technique.

Methods

A total of 213 fecal samples from free-living carnivorous mammals were collected between 2017 and 2018 in Itatiaia National Park, RJ, Brazil. Faust and modified Sheather floatation techniques as well as Lutz and modified Ritchie sedimentation techniques were applied.

Results

The total positivity rate for Spirometra spp. eggs was 24.4%, and these were detected mainly through Lutz and modified Ritchie sedimentation techniques, with substantial agreement (kappa = 0.73; p = 0.00 < 0.05; McNemar p value = 1.0; Fisher’s exact test p = 0.616). Faust and modified Sheather flotation techniques did not present good egg recovery, with frequencies of 6.6% and 7.5%, respectively. Eggs with morphological alterations were mostly observed through Faust (17.3%) and modified Sheather (13.5%). Both flotation techniques presented statistically significant frequencies of deformed eggs, in comparison with the sedimentation techniques (p = 0.00). Low frequencies of deformed eggs were observed when the samples were analyzed through modified Ritchie and Lutz sedimentation techniques.

Conclusions

From these results, sedimentation techniques such as modified Ritchie and Lutz methods were more efficient for diagnosing the eggs of this helminth in fecal material from free-living carnivores and should always be used when analyzing fecal samples from hosts of different species.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Parasitology Laboratory of the Fluminense Federal University, the Itatiaia National Park and its employees, the Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis and Other Protozoan Diseases of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, CAPES and FAPERJ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Biomedical Institute, Fluminense Federal University, Rua Professor Hernani Mello, 101, São Domingos, Niterói, RJ, 24210-130, Brazil

    Laís Verdan Dib, João Pedro Siqueira Palmer, Camila de Souza Carvalho Class de Lima, Raissa Cristina Ferreira Ramos, Otilio Machado Pereira Bastos, Claudia Maria Antunes Uchôa, Augusto Cezar Machado Pereira Bastos & Alynne da Silva Barbosa

  2. Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis and Other Protozoan Diseases, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz Rio de Janeiro), Avenida Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil

    Raissa Cristina Ferreira Ramos, Maria Regina Reis Amendoeira & Alynne da Silva Barbosa

  3. Statistics Laboratory, Mathematics and Statistics Institute, Fluminense Federal University, Rua Professor Marcos Waldemar de Freitas Reis s/n, bloco G, Gragoatá Campus, Niterói, RJ, 24210-201, Brazil

    Raissa Cristina Ferreira Ramos & Ana Beatriz Monteiro Fonseca

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  1. Laís Verdan Dib
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  2. João Pedro Siqueira Palmer
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  3. Camila de Souza Carvalho Class de Lima
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Correspondence to Laís Verdan Dib.

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Dib, L.V., Palmer, J.P.S., de Lima, C.d.C.C. et al. Comparison of Four Parasitological Techniques for Laboratory Diagnosis of Eggs from Spirometra spp. in Wild Mammal Fecal Samples. Acta Parasit. 64, 942–949 (2019). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11686-019-00120-1

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