Midi Parasep Kit & Manual Microscopy

Preparation of patient: N/A

Precautions:

Faeces; samples should be taken into a sterile universal container and before antimicrobial or antidiarrhoeal therapy. Ideally three stool specimens should be collected over no more than a 10-day period. It is usually recommended that specimens are collected every other day. Unless the patient has severe diarrhoea or dysentery, no more than one specimen should be examined within a single 24 hour period, as shedding of cysts and ova tends to be intermittent.

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Sellotape slide; Enterobius vermicularis (Thread/ Pin worm). Samples should be taken between 10pm and midnight, or early in the morning, before defecation or bathing.

Method: Apply clear Sellotape to the perianal region, pressing the adhesive side of the tape firmly against the left and right perianal folds several times; the tape can be wrapped around a tongue depressor to aid specimen collection . Carefully smooth the tape back on the glass microscope slide, adhesive side down. Sellotape samples NOT affixed to a slide will NOT be examined. A swab of the area also cannot be examined.

It is recommended that samples should be taken for at least 4 to 6 consecutive days. If the results of all these are negative the patient can be considered free from infection.

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Urine; (for S. haematobium) samples should be taken into a sterile urine container. Optimum specimen collection is a terminal urine sample taken between 10am and 2pm (period of maximum activity). Minimum volume required is 10ml.

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PLEASE NOTE: Samples and accompanying relevant patient/ isolate data maybe referred for confirmatory or further laboratory testing to Reference laboratories. Relevant Public Health departments may also be notified IF a notifiable disease is identified under the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 53/2020).