Blasto. hominis - questions for UK lab techs

[JEDilworth]

I'm cross-posting again to sci.med.laboratory.

The lab you're referring to is probably Great Smokies Diagnostic
Laboratory. Did she see an MD over here or some other alternative
medical person? GSDL does a lot of work for the latter. I don't know
much else about them other than they're a very large laboratory that
does a lot of stool analysis.

I am not a physician and don't really know what to tell you regarding
treatment. That is not what I do for a living. As far as reporting
standards, I don't know what labs do in the UK. 

Has your mother seen an infectious disease doc?

Stools for O&P exam really should be collected directly into a
preservative kit. We supply two vials; one is 10% formalin, and the
other is PVA (poly-vinyl alcohol) to preserve the trophozoite stage. The
formalin is for the cyst stage of parasites. B. hominis can present from
specimen placed in either vial. I don't know how long they last in
unpreserved stool. Do your labs not provide for a preservative kit for
outpatients?

I know there are some UK techs on sci.med.laboratory. Anyone care to
comment on whether Blastocystis hominis is reported on O&P exams over
there?

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology

Jenni wrote:
> 
> Thanks Judy.
> The reason I ask is because my husband's mother was diag. with Blasto.
> 2 years ago by a lab called Smokies???? in the US (she was on hols)
> She's had a lot of trouble getting her doctors and specialists here in
> UK to take her infection seriously.  She had lots of tests, ie.
> colonosocopy etc without result.  She has bowel & stomach pain a
> lot,dizziness and feels sick and see reported diarrhea and as she
> described it - spongy looking stools.  She has also lost some weight.
> 
> Flagyl treatment relieved her of the symptoms for 3 weeks but then she
> became ill again. Another dose had no effect.  Her doc. is sure that
> Flagyl would have killed the parasite and that she has IBS.
> 
> As many stool tests in our town both before and after the Smokies
> diagnoses have been neg., my husband decided to do some research on
> this parasite at the uni where he works.  It seems the sample jars
> need to contain fixative to find it...something her doc. has never
> heard of and is sceptical.  He also found out that not all labs report
> it and some only look for certain forms.  I just wanted a second
> opinion.  All other tests were neg. and Flagyl hasn't helped so were
> not sure where to go from here. Are there any other treatents for
> Blasto? We're understandably worried about her.
> Thanks for the x-post...look forward to hearing the results.
> JM