Sleeping sickness in Iganga District, Uganda: application of a new diagnostic technique
Gashumba, J.K.
East African Medical Journal 58(9): 699-702
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-835X PMID: 7318723 Document Number: 182626
A miniature anion-exchange centrifugation (AEC) technique was compared for sensitivity and speed with the microhaematocrit buffy-coat microscopy (MBCM) test for the diagnosis of trypanosomiasis in a field survey at Kiyunga in Iganga District, South Busoga, Uganda. Of 406 persons examined, 140 (34.5%) were positive. Of these, 121 were positive by wet blood film examination and 19 by AEC. 6 of the cases positive by AEC were also positive by MBCM. It is concluded that many submicroscopic parasitaemias are likely to be missed by the conventional wet blood film test and even by MBCM, and that the AEC technique is by far the most reliable and should be encouraged.