title: FLOTAC: a promising technique for detecting helminth eggs in human faeces.
abstract: There is a tendency to neglect diagnostic issues in the era of 'preventive chemotherapy' in human helminthiases. However, accurate diagnosis cannot be overemphasized for adequate patient management and monitoring of community-based control programmes. Implicit is a diagnostic dilemma: the more effective interventions are in reducing helminth egg excretion, the less sensitive direct parasitological tests become. Here, experiences gained thus far with the FLOTAC technique for diagnosing common soil-transmitted helminth infections are summarized. A single FLOTAC has higher sensitivity than multiple Kato-Katz thick smears in detecting low-intensity infections. Further validation of the FLOTAC technique in different epidemiological settings is warranted, including diagnosis of intestinal schistosomiasis and food-borne trematodiases.
authors: Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. s.knopp@unibas.ch
authors: Stefanie
authors: S
authors: Knopp
authors: Dominik
authors: D
authors: Glinz
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Rinaldi
authors: Khalfan A
authors: KA
authors: Mohammed
authors: Eliézer K
authors: EK
authors: N'Goran
authors: J Russell
authors: JR
authors: Stothard
authors: Hanspeter
authors: H
authors: Marti
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Cringoli
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Rollinson
authors: Jürg
authors: J
authors: Utzinger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire / Q000453:epidemiology; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006376:Helminths; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult