Table 1.
The results of the spiking experiment using the Kato-Katz thick smear, Mini-FLOTAC, and Flukefinder on the samples artificially spiked with 14, 28, 41, or 96 Fasciola hepatica eggs per gram (epg)
| Method | Replicate | Concentration of F. hepatica eggs per gram of stool (epg) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 28 | 41 | 96 | ||
| Kato-Katz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 120 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | |
| 6 | 0 | 24 | 48 | 168 | |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | |
| 8 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 24 | |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
| Sensitivity (%) | 10.0 | 40.0 | 10.0 | 70.0 | |
| Mean + SD | 2.4 + 7.6 | 12 + 17.0 | 4.8 + 15.2 | 52.8 + 56.3 | |
| Accuracy (%) | 17.1 | 42.9 | 11.7 | 55.0 | |
| CV (%) | 44.3 | 39.6 | 129.7 | 102.4 | |
| Mini-FLOTAC | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 30 |
| 2 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 30 | |
| 3 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 30 | |
| 4 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 20 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 10 | |
| 6 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 30 | |
| 7 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 30 | |
| 8 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 20 | |
| 10 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 20 | |
| Sensitivity (%) | 40.0 | 60.0 | 70.0 | 100 | |
| Mean + SD | 5 ± 7.1 | 9 ± 8.8 | 14 ± 11.7 | 23 ± 8.2 | |
| Accuracy (%) | 35.7 | 32.1 | 34.1 | 24.9 | |
| CV (%) | 19.8 | 27.2 | 34.4 | 34.3 | |
| Flukefinder | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 29.5 |
| 2 | 0.5 | 9.5 | 1.5 | 28 | |
| 3 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 23 | |
| 4 | 1.5 | 6 | 5 | 32 | |
| 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 42.5 | |
| 6 | 1 | 11 | 2.5 | 30.5 | |
| 7 | 0.5 | 7.5 | 0.5 | 46 | |
| 8 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 24.5 | |
| 9 | 1.5 | 6.5 | 6 | 30 | |
| 10 | 0 | 17.5 | 6 | 37 | |
| Sensitivity (%) | 60.0 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| Mean + SD | 0.6 ± 0.6 | 7.95 ± 4.0 | 3.7 ± 1.9 | 32.3 ± 7.4 | |
| Accuracy (%) | 4.3 | 28.4 | 9.0 | 33.6 | |
| CV (%) | 14.3 | 14.0 | 21.6 | 22.1 | |
CV = coefficient of variance; FEC = fecal egg count. Ten FEC replicates were performed for each method and the results are shown in epg. The accuracy equals the ratio observed over the expected FECs. CV = mean/SD.