Serological versus antigen detection methods for Giardia duodenalis diagnosis

Giardiasis constitutes an important public health problem in the world. Contamination of the water with fecal materials including viruses and pathogenic protozoa still represents an environmental health hazard, especially in rural areas. The survey study evaluated the relation between seropositivity and some risk factors. Moreover, the study compared between the serological IgG and IgM level and antigen detection methods for the diagnosis of giardiasis. The results indicate that sex distribution and age were the mean risk factors for seroprevelence. In this study, sera samples were employed in sandwich ELISA assay, to detect circulating Giardia antigens. None of the negative control serum samples gave a positive reaction, but cross reaction was encountered with 3 case of Cryptosporidium. The specificity of the assay was 94.830/a. On the other hand, the sensitivity of the Giardia patient's sera was 94.12% which was higher than that of IgG (86.25%) and IgM (87.50%) secretion measurements. In conclusion, antigen detection methods give better and earlier diagnosis for giardiasis can be performed quickly and do not require an experienced and skilled morphologist.