Use of pooled sodium acetate acetic acid formalin-preserved fecal specimens for the detection of intestinal parasites.

This study aimed at comparing detection of intestinal parasites from single unpreserved stool sample vs. sodium acetate acetic acid formalin (SAF)-preserved pooled samples, and stained with chlorazol black dye in routine practice. Unpreserved samples were collected from 120 patients and represented as Group I. Other three SAF-preserved samples were collected from the same patients over a 6-day period and represented as Groups IIa, IIb, and IIc. The latter groups were equally subdivided into two subgroups. The first subgroup of each of the three samples was examined individually, whereas the second subgroup of each were pooled and examined as a single specimen. All groups were examined by the routine diagnostic techniques; however, in group II when the diagnosis was uncertain, the chlorazol black dye staining procedure was carried out. Results demonstrated that out of 74 patients who continued the study, 12 cases (16%) were positive in group I, compared with 29 (39%) in the subgroups examined individually, and 27 (36%) in the pooled subgroups. Therefore, pooling of preserved fecal samples is an efficient and economical procedure for the detection of parasites. Furthermore, the chlorazol black dye was simple and effective in detecting the nuclear details of different parasites.