ACTA FAC MED NAISS 2008; 25 (2): 97-101

Professional article

MODERN DIAGNOSTICS OF GIARDIASIS

Natasa Miladinovic Tasic¹,

Suzana Tasic¹,
Aleksandar Tasic¹,

Dragan Zdravkovic²

¹Institute of Microbiology Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis

²Public Health Institute Nis

SUMMARY

Protozoan Giardia duodenalis (GD) is an opportunistic parasite in humans and animals. This protozoan, with the direct life cycle, parasitizes the upper parts of the digestive tract. Because of non-characteristic symptoms of giardiasis, as well as significant prevalence of cyst carriers, it is necessary to do a parasitological examination of feces in order to make the diagnosis of this parasitosis, aiming to detect the causes. The “gold standard” (reference standard) for parasitological diagnosis of GD is a conventional microscopy (CVM) of three or more samples with/without the application of the concentration technique. Lately, the diagnostics of giardiasis has been complemented with up-to-date commercial assays for detection of GD protozoan antigen in feces. These serological tests are characterized by high sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic efficiency, in which case only one sample of material is sufficient for the examination. However, CVM of three and/or more samples of feces remains irreplaceable in the differential diagnosis of the digestive tract parasitic infections.  

Key words: Giardia duodenalis, conventional microscopy, immunodiagnostics