Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Due to high prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in equine helminths, selective treatment is increasingly promoted and in some countries a positive infection diagnosis is mandatory before treatment. Selective treatment is typically recommended when the number of worm eggs per gram faeces (epg) exceeds a particular threshold. In the present study we compared the semi-quantitative sedimentation/flotation method with the quantitative methods Mini-FLOTAC and FECPAKG2 in terms of precision, sensitivity, inter-rater reliability and correlation of worm egg counts to improve the choice of optimal diagnostic tools.
METHODS: Using sedimentation/flotation (counting raw egg numbers up to 200), we investigated 1067 horse faecal samples using a modified Mini-FLOTAC approach (multiplication factor of 5 to calculate epgs from raw egg counts) and FECPAKG2 (multiplication factor of 45).
RESULTS: Five independent analyses of the same faecal sample with all three methods revealed that variance was highest for the sedimentation/flotation method while there were no significant differences between methods regarding the coefficient of variance. Sedimentation/flotation detected the highest number of samples positive for strongyle and Parascaris spp. eggs, followed by Mini-FLOTAC and FECPAKG2. Regarding Anoplocephalidae, no significant difference in frequency of positive samples was observed between Mini-FLOTAC and sedimentation/flotation. Cohen\'s κ values comparing individual methods with the combined result of all three methods revealed almost perfect agreement (κ ≥ 0.94) for sedimentation/flotation and strong agreement for Mini-FLOTAC (κ ≥ 0.83) for strongyles and Parascaris spp. For FECPAKG2, moderate and weak agreements were found for the detection of strongyle (κ = 0.62) and Parascaris (κ = 0.51) eggs, respectively. Despite higher sensitivity, the Mini-FLOTAC mean epg was significantly lower than that with FECPAKG2 due to samples with > 200 raw egg counts by sedimentation/flotation, while in samples with lower egg shedding epgs were higher with Mini-FLOTAC than with FECPAKG2.
CONCLUSIONS: For the simple detection of parasite eggs, for example, to treat foals infected with Parascaris spp., sedimentation/flotation is sufficient and more sensitive than the other two quantitative investigared in this study. Mini-FLOTAC is predicted to deliver more precise results in faecal egg count reduction tests due to higher raw egg counts. Finally, to identify animals with a strongyle epg above a certain threshold for treatment, FECPAKG2 delivered results comparable to Mini-FLOTAC.
METHODS: Using sedimentation/flotation (counting raw egg numbers up to 200), we investigated 1067 horse faecal samples using a modified Mini-FLOTAC approach (multiplication factor of 5 to calculate epgs from raw egg counts) and FECPAKG2 (multiplication factor of 45).
RESULTS: Five independent analyses of the same faecal sample with all three methods revealed that variance was highest for the sedimentation/flotation method while there were no significant differences between methods regarding the coefficient of variance. Sedimentation/flotation detected the highest number of samples positive for strongyle and Parascaris spp. eggs, followed by Mini-FLOTAC and FECPAKG2. Regarding Anoplocephalidae, no significant difference in frequency of positive samples was observed between Mini-FLOTAC and sedimentation/flotation. Cohen\'s κ values comparing individual methods with the combined result of all three methods revealed almost perfect agreement (κ ≥ 0.94) for sedimentation/flotation and strong agreement for Mini-FLOTAC (κ ≥ 0.83) for strongyles and Parascaris spp. For FECPAKG2, moderate and weak agreements were found for the detection of strongyle (κ = 0.62) and Parascaris (κ = 0.51) eggs, respectively. Despite higher sensitivity, the Mini-FLOTAC mean epg was significantly lower than that with FECPAKG2 due to samples with > 200 raw egg counts by sedimentation/flotation, while in samples with lower egg shedding epgs were higher with Mini-FLOTAC than with FECPAKG2.
CONCLUSIONS: For the simple detection of parasite eggs, for example, to treat foals infected with Parascaris spp., sedimentation/flotation is sufficient and more sensitive than the other two quantitative investigared in this study. Mini-FLOTAC is predicted to deliver more precise results in faecal egg count reduction tests due to higher raw egg counts. Finally, to identify animals with a strongyle epg above a certain threshold for treatment, FECPAKG2 delivered results comparable to Mini-FLOTAC.
摘要：
背景：由于马蠕虫的驱虫耐药性很高，选择性治疗越来越受欢迎，在一些国家，治疗前必须进行阳性感染诊断。当每克粪便（epg）的蠕虫卵数量超过特定阈值时，通常建议进行选择性治疗。在本研究中，我们比较了半定量沉降/浮选方法与定量方法Mini-FLOTAC和FECPAKG2在精度方面，灵敏度,虫卵计数的评估者间可靠性和相关性，以改善最佳诊断工具的选择。
方法：使用沉降/浮选（计算原蛋数量高达200），我们使用改良的Mini-FLOTAC方法（从原始卵数计算epg的倍增因子为5）和FECPAKG2（倍增因子为45）调查了1067份马粪便样本。
结果:使用所有三种方法对相同粪便样品进行的五次独立分析显示，沉降/浮选方法的方差最高，而方法之间在变异系数方面没有显着差异。沉降/浮选检测到的强黄体和parascaris属阳性样品数量最多。鸡蛋,其次是Mini-FLOTAC和FECPAKG2。关于人头科,Mini-FLOTAC和沉降/浮选之间的阳性样品频率没有显着差异。Cohen的κ值将各种方法与所有三种方法的综合结果进行了比较，结果表明，沉降/浮选几乎完全一致（κ≥0.94），而Mini-FLOTAC（κ≥0.83）对于强壮的和Parascarisspp具有很强的一致性。对于FECPAKG2，发现了中等和弱的协议，用于检测强黄体（κ=0.62）和parascaris（κ=0.51）卵，分别。尽管灵敏度更高,Mini-FLOTAC平均epg明显低于FECPAKG2，因为通过沉降/浮选获得>200个生卵计数的样品，而在产卵量较低的样品中，Mini-FLOTAC高于FECPAKG2。
结论：对于寄生虫卵的简单检测，例如,治疗感染了Parascalis的小马驹。,沉降/浮选是足够的，比其他两个定量调查在本研究中更敏感。Mini-FLOTAC预计在粪便卵数减少测试中提供更精确的结果，因为原始卵数较高。最后,为了识别具有高于一定治疗阈值的强黄体epg的动物，FECPAKG2的结果与Mini-FLOTAC相当。
方法：使用沉降/浮选（计算原蛋数量高达200），我们使用改良的Mini-FLOTAC方法（从原始卵数计算epg的倍增因子为5）和FECPAKG2（倍增因子为45）调查了1067份马粪便样本。
结果:使用所有三种方法对相同粪便样品进行的五次独立分析显示，沉降/浮选方法的方差最高，而方法之间在变异系数方面没有显着差异。沉降/浮选检测到的强黄体和parascaris属阳性样品数量最多。鸡蛋,其次是Mini-FLOTAC和FECPAKG2。关于人头科,Mini-FLOTAC和沉降/浮选之间的阳性样品频率没有显着差异。Cohen的κ值将各种方法与所有三种方法的综合结果进行了比较，结果表明，沉降/浮选几乎完全一致（κ≥0.94），而Mini-FLOTAC（κ≥0.83）对于强壮的和Parascarisspp具有很强的一致性。对于FECPAKG2，发现了中等和弱的协议，用于检测强黄体（κ=0.62）和parascaris（κ=0.51）卵，分别。尽管灵敏度更高,Mini-FLOTAC平均epg明显低于FECPAKG2，因为通过沉降/浮选获得>200个生卵计数的样品，而在产卵量较低的样品中，Mini-FLOTAC高于FECPAKG2。
结论：对于寄生虫卵的简单检测，例如,治疗感染了Parascalis的小马驹。,沉降/浮选是足够的，比其他两个定量调查在本研究中更敏感。Mini-FLOTAC预计在粪便卵数减少测试中提供更精确的结果，因为原始卵数较高。最后,为了识别具有高于一定治疗阈值的强黄体epg的动物，FECPAKG2的结果与Mini-FLOTAC相当。
