Comparison of rapid methods for detection of Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. (oo)cysts using transportable instrumentation in a field deployment.

Reliable, sensitive, quantitative, and mobile rapid screening methods for pathogenic organisms are not yet readily available, but would provide a great benefit to humanitarian intervention units in disaster situations. We compared three different methods (immunofluorescent microscopy, IFM; flow cytometry, FCM; polymerase chain reaction, PCR) for the rapid and quantitative detection of Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum (oo)cysts in a field campaign. For this we deployed our mobile instrumentation and sampled canal water and vegetables during a 2 week field study in Thailand.