School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Institute of Computing (IC), Laboratory of Image Data Science (LIDS), University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Trop Med Int Health. 2022 Dec;27(12):1044-1052. doi: 10.1111/tmi.13827. Epub 2022 Nov 1.
Ova and parasite (O&P) examination is recommended for the laboratory diagnosis of agents causing parasitic infections; however, this exam requires scientific and technological improvements to enhance its diagnostic validity. Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is an efficient technical principle separating suspended solids in a liquid medium. We aimed to develop and validate a new procedure for intestinal parasite detection with DAF.
In this study, we collected samples from 500 volunteers, screened them by direct examination, and transferred the material to tubes using the Three Faecal Test (TF-Test) for triplicate DAF tests. We evaluated physical-chemical parameters and DAF prototype components through quantifying parasites recovered from floated and non-floated regions of the flotation column. The DAF operation protocol was validated with the gold standard results.
The 10% saturated volume proportion and cationic surfactant showed regularity and high parasite recovery (80%). Modifications of the needle device did not influence parasite recovery (p > 0.05). Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and kappa agreement obtained with the DAF protocol were 91%, 100%, 93% and substantial (k = 0.64), respectively.
The DAF principle could be used to process faecal samples in routine laboratory exams, enabling intestinal parasite detection.
卵和寄生虫（O&P）检查被推荐用于寄生虫感染的实验室诊断；然而，该检查需要科学和技术的改进，以提高其诊断的有效性。溶气浮选（DAF）是一种有效的技术原理，可用于分离液体介质中的悬浮固体。我们旨在开发和验证一种使用 DAF 检测肠道寄生虫的新程序。
在这项研究中，我们收集了 500 名志愿者的样本，通过直接检查进行筛选，并使用三粪检（TF-Test）将材料转移到管中，进行三重复的 DAF 测试。我们通过量化从浮选柱浮选区和非浮选区回收的寄生虫来评估物理化学参数和 DAF 原型组件。DAF 操作方案通过黄金标准结果进行验证。
10%饱和体积比例和阳离子表面活性剂显示出规律性和高寄生虫回收率（80%）。针状装置的修改不会影响寄生虫的回收（p>0.05）。DAF 方案获得的灵敏度、特异性、准确性和kappa 一致性分别为 91%、100%、93%和实质性（k=0.64）。
DAF 原理可用于常规实验室检查中的粪便样本处理，从而能够检测肠道寄生虫。
