Figure 1.
Study flow charts of the prospective investigation of the Ziehl-Neelsen technique.
Study flow chart of the evaluation of the Ziehl-Neelsen technique to diagnose Paragonimus spp. eggs in Luang Namtha, Laos, using sputum samples of patients with chronic cough (A). Comparison of different Ziehl-Neelsen staining procedures in egg positive samples (B).
Figure 2.
Microscopic appearance of Paragonimus eggs after different staining techniques.
Brownish to reddish colored Paragonimus eggs in Ziehl-Neelsen stained sputum (10× objective, 100× magnification) (A and B). Paragonimus egg in the Ziehl-Neelsen stained sputum with 100× objective (1000× magnification) (C). Auramine stain examined by fluorescence microscopy with 60× objective (600× magnification) (D). Wet slide after the bleach concentration technique (E); from left to right: Paragonimus egg that is empty, one that appears unchanged, and one egg without the operculum examined with 10× objective (100× magnification).
Table 1.
Characteristics of study participants (n = 43) from Luang Namtha province, Laos.
Table 2.
Statistical comparison of the different diagnostic techniques.