Drying of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts to slides abrogates use of vital dyes for viability staining.
Vital dye staining has long been used to assess viability of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts, with staining and enumeration in suspension. Some recent studies, however, have dried samples to microscope slides prior to staining. Here we demonstrate that this approach may considerably underestimate parasite viability in the original sample.
Parasitology Lab, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 Dep., Oslo 0033 Norway. Electronic address: lucy.robertson@nvh.no.
Lucy J
LJ
Robertson
Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, B9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Stijn
S
Casaert
Parasitology Lab, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 Dep., Oslo 0033 Norway.
Yazel
Y
Valdez-Nava
Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, B9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; Department of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh.
Md Amimul
MA
Ehsan
Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, B9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Edwin
E
Claerebout
D002470:Cell Survival; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D003890:Desiccation; D005872:Giardia / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D033661:Oocysts / Q000502:physiology*; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*
D004396:Coloring Agents
Cryptosporidium; Cyst; Giardia; Oocyst; Staining; Viability