Table 1.
Diagnostic tests to be employed on stool (and urine) samples from patients with persistent digestive disorders and healthy controls in Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Mali and Nepal during the NIDIAG study. Note: except for the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for Schistosoma mansoni which uses urine, all tests are performed on stool samples
| Diagnostic test | Targeted pathogens | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Microscopy | ||
| Direct faecal smear | Helminths, intestinal protozoa | [55] |
| Kato-Katz thick smear | Helminths | [56] |
| Acid-fast staining | Cryptosporidium spp., Cyclospora cayetanensis, Cystoisospora belli | [57] |
| Baermann funnel concentration technique | Strongyloides stercoralis, hookworm | [41, 58] |
| Formalin-ether concentration technique | Helminths, intestinal protozoa | [59, 60] |
| Mini-FLOTAC | Helminths | [61, 62, 63] |
| Culture | ||
| Bacteriological stool culture | Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Yersinia spp. | [9] |
| Koga agar culture | Strongyloides stercoralis, hookworm | [64–67] |
| Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) | ||
| Crypto/Giardia DuoStrip | Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis | [37] |
| Circulating cathodic antigen (CCA)a | Schistosoma mansoni | [68–72] |
| Molecular post-hoc testing on ethanol-fixed stool samples | ||
| Multiplex PCR | Helminths, intestinal protozoa (all samples); diarrhoeagenic bacteria and viruses (selected sub-sample) | [73–76] |
aThis test will only be employed in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, because S. mansoni does not occur in Indonesia and Nepal