Modified Giemsa staining for rapid diagnosis of malaria infection.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and evaluate a rapid method for the diagnosis of malaria infection by microscopy of stained blood films.


METHODS
Blood specimens were collected from randomly selected confirmed malaria cases (n = 75) and suspected malaria cases (n = 175). The microscopy was done on each set of blood films stained by modified and the standard Giemsa staining methods.


RESULTS
All the 75 previously diagnosed malaria cases were confirmed by the microscopy of blood films stained by both methods. Forty-nine (28%) of the 175 cases suspected for malaria infection showed malarial parasites on microscopy of blood films stained by both methods. However, due to homogeneous staining and clearer background of the blood films it was possible to determine the parasite species in 65% of the cases on microscopy of the thick films stained with the modified method compared to only 20% with the standard method. Further, the turnaround time for reporting the microscopy test result was 15-20 and 45-50 min with modified and standard staining methods, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data showed that performance of the modified staining method in detecting malarial parasites was comparable to that of the standard staining method. Moreover, the modified staining method was rapid, easy to use, and reliable.
Iqbal
J
J
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait. iqbal@hsc.kuniv.edu.kw
Hira
P R
PR
Al-Ali
F
F
Khalid
N
N
Sher
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001399:Azure Stains; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
D001399:Azure Stains