Vomiting & Diarrhoea in a nursing home - Rcpa.tv

The history is certainly suggestive of an infective process,
and both giardia and cryptosporidia should also be
sought. Choose the best answer below:
A. Giardia are usually present in large numbers in faeces, so either microscopy or
direct antigen detection are appropriate. Cryptosporidia though are usually
present in smaller numbers and direct antigen detection is a more sensitive,
but a less specific diagnostic assay.
B. A combined iron haemotoxylin and trichrome stain of a faecal smear provides
the most sensitive detection method for giardia and cryptosporidium
detection. This method is more labour intensive and is limited by a higher
threshold of organism detection than the PCR or immuno-detection methods,
but those methods also have imperfections.
A
B