title: Agreement of the Kato-Katz test established by the WHO with samples fixed with sodium acetate analyzed at 6 months to diagnose intestinal geohelminthes.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Kato-Katz test (WHO version) with stool samples from a rural area, fixed with sodium acetate (SAF). The Kato-Katz test was used to compare unfixed samples (conventional test) with the same samples containing SAF fixative at time 0 and at 6 months. The study included stools from 154 subjects. A marginally statistically significant decrease in prevalence was estimated only for hookworm, when comparing unfixed samples versus the SAF fixed samples read at 6 months (p=0.06). A significant reduction in parasite load was found for hookworm (p<0.01) and Trichuris trichiura (p<0.01) between the unfixed and the fixed sample read at 6 months, but not for Ascaris lumbricoides (p=0.10). This research suggests that the SAF fixative solution is a good option for transporting samples for diagnosis, especially in rural areas in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Información para Decisiones en Salud Pública (CENIDSP), Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca (Morelos), Mexico; Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: julian.fernandez@insp.mx.
authors.forename: Julián
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alfredo Fernández-Niño
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigaciones Microbiológicas - UR (GIMUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Matemáticas, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: David Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Consuelo López
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Ligia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Inés Moncada
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Rubén
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Darío Heredia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000723:Ancylostomatoidea / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D001196:Ascariasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D017164:Ascaris lumbricoides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001692:Biological Transport; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D005404:Fixatives; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D006725:Hookworm Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D059208:Parasite Load; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019346:Sodium Acetate; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology; D013997:Time Factors; D014258:Trichuris / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D005404:Fixatives; D012987:Soil; D019346:Sodium Acetate
keywords: Ascaris; Colombia; Diagnosis; Hookworm; Soil-transmitted helminth