title: Morphological diversity of Trichuris spp. eggs observed during an anthelminthic drug trial in Yunnan, China, and relative performance of parasitologic diagnostic tools.
abstract: The presence of large Trichuris spp. eggs in human faecal samples is occasionally reported. Such eggs have been described as variant Trichuris trichiura or Trichuris vulpis eggs. Within the frame of a randomised controlled trial, faecal samples collected from 115 Bulang individuals from Yunnan, People's Republic of China were subjected to the Kato-Katz technique (fresh stool samples) and the FLOTAC and ether-concentration techniques (sodium acetate-acetic acid-formalin (SAF)-fixed stool samples). Large Trichuris spp. eggs were noted in faecal samples with a prevalence of 6.1% before and 21.7% after anthelminthic drug administration. The observed prevalence of standard-sized T. trichiura eggs was reduced from 93.0% to 87.0% after treatment. Considerably more cases of large Trichuris spp. eggs and slightly more cases with normal-sized T. trichiura eggs were identified by FLOTAC compared to the ether-concentration technique. No large Trichuris spp. eggs were observed on the Kato-Katz thick smears.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, P.O. Box, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: peter.steinmann@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steinmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, CREMOPAR Regione Campania, University of Naples, "Federico II", I-80137 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, CREMOPAR Regione Campania, University of Naples, "Federico II", I-80137 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cringoli
authors.affiliation: Helminthiasis Division, Yunnan Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Pu'er 665000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zun-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: University of Basel, P.O. Box, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Medical and Diagnostic Services, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hanspeter
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: Helminthiasis Division, Yunnan Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Pu'er 665000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jin-Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, P.O. Box, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Nong
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, P.O. Box, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jürg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utzinger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015766:Albendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D010655:Phenylenediamines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014257:Trichuriasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D014258:Trichuris / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D010655:Phenylenediamines; C056017:tribendimidine; D015766:Albendazole
keywords: Diagnosis; Egg size; Ether-concentration technique; FLOTAC technique; Microscopy; Trichuris