Specimen:

Stool

Minimum:

Pea sized portion of stool

Testing Schedule:

5 days a week M-F.

Analytic Time:

1 week

Comments:

Within 1 hour of collection transfer a few grams of stool to each vial
of O&P UHL collection kit (923450 available from Hospital Stores).
Send inoculated collection kit along with Epic order requisition to 
Specimen Control.

Minimum information needed includes the patient name, date of birth,
ordering physician, date of collection, test requested and specimen
type.  Both sample vials must be labeled.  The vials must be labeled
with two patient identifiers.

A minimum of three stool specimens collected on alternate days is
recommended.  Onset of diarrhea in patients hospitalized for >3 days is
usually not attributed to a parasitic infection.

Ordering Options:  UHL, Routine O&P (concentration)
                   UHL, Routine O&P with Trichrome Stain
                   UHL, Cryptosporidium Stain (Add-on to O&P)
                   UHL, Cyclospora Stain (Add-on to O&P)

Requests for Microsporidia detection must be specified on the UHL 
requisition.

Please refer to the Ova and Parasite Stool Collection information 
and the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory website.

Methodology:

Direct examination