The Loeffler's methylene blue stain: an inexpensive and rapid method for detection of Helicobacter pylori

Loeffler's methylene blue, commonly used as a counter-stain for acid fast bacilli, was used to detect Helicobacter pylori in paraffin sections and touch smears of gastric mucosal biopsies from 15 patients with duodenal ulcer and 35 with non-ulcer dyspepsia, and the results were compared with the modified Giemsa stain. The time taken to stain smears by Loeffler's methylene blue was approximately 10 min and the results correlated well with those stained by the modified Giemsa stain. However, the Loeffler's methylene blue method was found to be simpler, quicker and cheaper than the modified Giemsa stain.