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F22: Wear Your Helminth

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Asher Altman, Lauren Barger, Andrew Bohner, Victoria Brown, Indy Cabeda-Diaz

 

wear your helminth 

Slide Standardization for the analysis of fecal samples with soil-transmitted helminth eggs.

The Stool Stomper, our team’s device design, with a ready-to-use slide carriage.

Soil Transmitted Helminth (STH) infection is a parasite-borne disease that causes an avoidable infectious burden on a population, reducing quality of life and causing unnecessary pain and morbidities. Current efforts to reduce the spread of STH infection include the distribution of preventive chemotherapy to communities with a high rate of infection. The Kato-Katz technique is performed to provide an accurate count of infection in a population. That egg count from this testing procedure is then used to inform the amount of preventive chemotherapy that is distributed to the population. However, the downsides to the protocol include operator-dependent accuracy, poor sensitivity, long testing time, and poor operating conditions. The Stool Stomper, when combined with the Kato Katz protocol, will allow for these limitations to be corrected. This slide preparation device will decrease the number of slides that need to be remade, and minimize operator contact with the fecal samples used. It helps lab technicians prepare the slide so that each sample is pressed onto the slide with a uniform pressure, ensuring that all samples will have the same diameter and thickness. The Stool Stomper is 47.5% more consistent in preparing evenly distributed slides, and is 71.2% more accurate at achieving an optimal diameter of 7 mm samples as compared to hand pressed methods. This device will increase operator accuracy and slide readability while also decreasing operator contact with fecal samples. Through this effort, communities heavily exposed to parasitic worms will receive the treatment they need.

Mariana Stephens

MPH- Deputy Director

 

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