The detectability of helminth eggs from feces by cellophane thick smear technique

The efficacy of the cellophane thick smear(CTS) technique was reassessed for detecting helminths eggs such as Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Clonorchis sinensis, in comparsion with the formalin-ether(F-E) one, with repeated smears per case. From the fecal samples of 411 ROK Army soldiers, a total of 3,288 smears were made and examined; 4 by CTS and 4 by F-E techniques. The expected egg detectability with one, two, three or four smears by each technique was mathemativally calculated. The results were as follows: 1. When the results of all 8 smears per case were integrated, the number of cases with Ascaris egg were 54(13.1%), Trichuris 125(30.4%) and Clonorchis 33(8.0%). Some other kinds of helminths eggs and protozoan cysts were found from a few cases each. 2. The calculated detectability of Ascaris eggs by CTS technique was fairly high(95.8~96.3%) with 1-4 smears, while that by F-E technique was not so high(73.1~88.9%). 3. In case of Trchuris eggs, the egg detectability by CTS technique with 1-4 smears was a little lower(62.2~86.4%) than that by F-E technique(73.4 ~ 91.2%). 4. The detectability of Clonorchis eggs with 1-4 smears by CTS technique was the lowest(44.7~60.6%) among the three helminths as well as much lower than that by F-E technique(67.4~87.9%).