Table 2.
Sensitivities and specificities of microscopic methods, and currently available immunological and DNA-based diagnostic tests for Cryptosporidium spp.
| Microscopic Staining Techniques | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Test Name | Sensitivity | Specificity | Reference |
| mZiehl-Neelsen stain | 37–79.1% | 100% | Chalmers et al. (2011); Kaushik et al. (2008); Khurana et al. (2012) |
| Fluorescent – auramine phenol stain | 92.1 –100% | 99.6–100% | Abou El-Naga and Gaafar (2014); Chalmers et al. (2011); Khurana et al. (2012) |
| Kinyoun’s acid fast stain | 66.7–91.6% | 88.2–100% | Abou El-Naga and Gaafar (2014); Elsafi et al. (2014) |
| Commercial Immunological Diagnostic Tests for Cryptosporidium spp. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test Name | Sensitivitya | Specificitya | Additional Pathogens Detected | Supplier | Reference |
| Crypto-Strip | 47.2% | 100% | N/A | Coris BioConcept, Gembloux, Belgium | Agnamey et al. (2011) |
| Cryptosporidium and Giardia Duo-Strip | 91.7% | 100% | Giardia duodenalis | Coris BioConcept, Gembloux, Belgium | Van den Bossche et al. (2015) |
| Cryptosporidium EZ VUE lateral-flow test strips | 89% | 99% | N/A | TechLab Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia, United States | Johansen et al. (2021) |
| Cryptosporidium II test | 71.8% | 94.3% | N/A | TechLab Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia, United States | Kabir et al. (2018) |
| Giardia/Cryptosporidium Quik Chek | 92.3–100% | 97.1–100% | G. duodenalis | TechLab Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia, United States | Chalmers et al. (2011); Van den Bossche et al. (2015); Kabir et al. (2018); Minak et al. (2012) |
| ImmunocardSTAT® C/ G | 5.5–96% | 96.6–100% | G. duodenalis | Meridian Bioscience Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, United States | Agnamey et al. (2011); El-Moamly and El-Sweify (2012); Bouyou-Akotet et al. (2016) |
| ImmunoCard STAT!® CGE | 100% | 45.6–100% | G. duodenalis, and Entamoeba histolytica | Meridian Bioscience Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, United States | Van den Bossche et al. (2015) |
| RIDA®QUICK | 62.4–84.9% | 98% | N/A | R-Biopharm Diagnostic, Darmstadt, Germany | Agnamey et al. (2011); Chalmers et al. (2011) |
| RIDA®QUICK Combi | 60.4–100% | 100% | G. duodenalis, and E. histolytica /dispar | R-Biopharm Diagnostic, Darmstadt, Germany | Van den Bossche et al. (2015); Helmy et al. (2014) |
| Remel ProSpecT | 91.4% | 100% | G. duodenalis | ThermoScientific, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States | Chalmers et al. (2011) |
| Remel-Xpect | 68.8% | 100% | N/A | ThermoScientific, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States | Agnamey et al. (2011) |
| Commercial Molecular Diagnostic Tests for Cryptosporidium spp, | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test Name | Sensitivitya | Specificitya | Additional Pathogens Detected | Supplier | Reference |
| AllplexTM Gastrointestinal Panel-Parasite Assay (GIPPA) | 100% | Up to 100% – further testing needed. | G. duodenalis, E. histolytica, Dientamoeba fragilis, B. hominis, and Cyclospora cayetanensis | Seegene Inc, Seoul, Korea | Autier et al. (2020); Paulos et al. (2019) |
| Amplidiag® Stool Parasites | 103 oocysts/g | Not specified | G. duodenalis, E. histolytica, and D. fragilis | Mobidiag, Espoo, Finland | Costa et al. (2021) |
| BD Max parasitic panel (EPP) | 95.5% | 99.6% | G. duodenalis, and E. histolytica | BD Diagnostics, Sparks, Maryland, United States | Madison-Antenucci et al. (2016); Mölling et al. (2016) |
| Biofire FilmArrayTM Gastrointestinal Panel | 100% | 99.6–100% | 14 bacterial and 5 viral targets. 3 further parasites: G. duodenalis, E. histolytica, and C. cayetanensis | BioFire Diagnostics, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States | Murphy et al. (2017); Binnicker (2015); Khare et al. (2014); Zhang et al. (2015) |
| EasyScreenTM Enteric Parasite Detection Kit | 100% | 100% | G. duodenalis, Entamoeba complex; D. fragilis, and Blastocystis spp. | Genetic Signatures, Sydney, Australia | Stark et al. (2014) |
| EntericBio GastroPanel II | 100% | 100% | 4 bacterial targets and G. duodenalis | Serosep. Limerick, Ireland | McAuliffe et al. (2017) |
| FTD Stool Parasites | 53.1% | Up to 100% – further testing needed. | Giardia spp, and E. histolytica | Fast Track Diagnostics, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg | Paulos et al. (2019) |
| Gastroenteritis/Parasite Panel I | 92–100% | Up to 100% – further testing needed. | G. duodenalis, and E. histolytica | Diagnode, Seraing, Belgium | Paulos et al. (2019) |
| Luminex xTAG® Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel | 95–100% | 100% | 12 bacterial and viral targets and 2 further parasites: G. duodenalis and E. histolytica | Luminex Corporation, Austin, Texas, United States | Patel et al. (2014); Wessels et al. (2014); Claas et al. (2013); Navidad et al. (2013); Perry et al. (2014); Zhang et al. (2015) |
| NanoCHIP® Gastrointestinal Panel (GIP) |
Detection limit of 5 x 103 oocysts | Up to 100% – further testing needed. | 3 bacterial targets and G. duodenalis, E. histolytica, E. dispar, D. fragilis, and Blastocystis hominis | Savyon Diagnostics, Ashdod, Israel | Dror et al. (2016) |
| ParaGENIE Crypto-Micro PCR | 91.7% | 100% | Also differentiates between Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon intestinalis | Ademtech, Pessac, France | Morio et al. (2019) |
| RIDA®GENE Parasitic Stool Panel | 87.5% | Up to 100% – further testing needed. | G. duodenalis, E. histolytica, and D. fragilis | R-Biopharm Diagnostic, Darmstadt, Germany | Paulos et al. (2019) |
| QIAStat Dx® GIP | Not specified | Not specified | 14 bacterial targets, 6 viral targets and 3 further parasites: G. lamblia, E. histolytica, and C. cayetanensis |
Qiagen, Hilden, Germany | Boers et al. (2020) |
aSensitivity and specificity for Cryptosporidium spp. only are given here. Variable sensitivities and specificities reported for other pathogens detection by these panels.