Parasitology Artifacts - Introduction

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Introduction

One of the difficulties in diagnostic parasitology is distinguishing parasitic organisms from other elements in feces and other body fluids.
The most difficult specimen to differentiate parasites from artifacts in is feces. Fecal specimens consist of many components such as:

food residue
products of digestion
epithelial cells, leucocytes, erythrocytes
mucus
microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria

Due to the ratio of fecal debris to parasites, it is not surprising that these artifacts may be incorrectly identified as trophozoites, eggs, cysts and larvae.

The purpose of this site is to teach microscopists morphological criteria required to differentiate clinically important parasites from artifact material regularly seen in fecal samples and specimens from other body sites.

The goal of this site is not to replace practical training of staff in this specialized area. This site is a supplementary source of reference material that is available to help advanced and beginner microscopists minimize identification errors by being better able to differentiate "facts from artifacts."

Fecal artifacts illustrated are:

Human cells/cell derived materials
Non-human elements

Algae
Fungal conidia
Mushroom spores
Plant cells
Root hairs
Pollen grains
Spore
Vegetable spiral
Yeast cell

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