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The Triage parasite panel (BIOSITE Diagnostics, San Diego, Calif.) is a new qualitative enzyme immunoassay (EIA) panel for the detection of Giardia lamblia , Entamoeba histolytica / E. dispar , and Cryptosporidium parvum in fresh or fresh, frozen, unfixed human fecal specimens. By using specific antibodies, antigens specific for these organisms are captured and immobilized on a membrane. Panel performance was evaluated with known positive and negative stool specimens (a total of 444 specimens) that were tested by the standard ova and parasite (O for E. histolytica / E. dispar , 99, 96.0%, and 99.1%, respectively; and for C. parvum , 60, 98.3%, and 99.7%, respectively. There was no cross-reactivity with other parasites found in stool specimens, including eight different protozoa (128 challenges) and three different helminths (83 challenges). The ability to perform the complete O&P examination should remain an option for those patients with negative parasite panel results but who are still symptomatic.
Garcia et al. (Sat,) studied this question.