Accuracy of Ziehl Neelsen and Safranin Methylene Blue Staining Modalities for Detection Of C.parvum Infection In Children under 5 years

Abstract

Aim : To investigate the agreements between Ziehl Neelsen and Safranin Methylene Blue Staining mo-dalities staining techniques for detection of C.parvum infection in children under 5 years in Baqubah-Diyala province -Iraq Methods :one hundred diarrheic children under 5 years were included .stool samples were examined after stained with hot Ziehl –Neelsen ;Safranin Methylene Blue Staining modalities Results : Both of ZN cold and ZN hot , Kinyoun's , SMB staining were identical in diagnosis of negative C.parvum among diarrhea cases in children , (26%).A total of (12%) have low score in both techniques, (19%) were moderate and (33%) have heavy score in both techniques. Very good agreement (kappa =0.862 ),was reported between ZN hot and ZN cold for diagnosis of C.parvum oocysts. A total of (11%) of cases have low score in both techniques, (12%) were moderate and (22%) heavy score in ZN hot and Kinyoun's staining techniques. Very good agreement (kappa =0.614 ), between ZN hot and Kinyoun's for diagnosis of C.parvum oocysts in children. A total of (11%) have low score in both techniques ,(12%) were moderate and (18%) with heavy score in ZN hot technique and SMB techniques. Moderate agree-ment (kappa =0.567 ),was reported between ZN hot and SMB for diagnosis of C.parvum oocysts in chil-dren .A total of (10%) of cases have low score in both techniques, (7%) were moderate and (20%) with heavy score in ZN hot and modified SMB staining . Moderate agreement (kappa =0.514),was reported between ZN hot and modified SMB for diagnosis of C.parvum oocysts in children . Conclusion : All Alternative stains for Hot ZN( ZN cold ; Kinyoun's, SMB and modified SMB staining have identical specificity (100%) for diagnosis of negative C.parvum among diarrhea cases in children . According to very good agreement between ZN hot and ZN cold ; ZN hot and Kinyoun's these stains can be used as first line alternative to hot ZN stain .while SMB and modified SMB used as a second alterna-tives due to moderate agreement with ZN hot staining for diagnosis of C.parvum oocysts in children which represent good alternatives in rural areas and low income countries