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Recently a number of broad-range stool parasite PCR assays have been developed. However, there is ongoing disagreement regarding their diagnostic performance, as various studies have produced contradictory results. In this study, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of the Seegene Allplex GI-Parasite and Allplex GI-Helminth assays (SA) with the conventional methods used at the travel clinic of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) including microscopy, antigen testing, and molecular detection in order to provide insights into the strengths and limitations of this diagnostic tool which may be crucial to select the most appropriate diagnostic tools for the suspected pathogen. A total of 97 native stool samples from 95 patients with suspected gastrointestinal illness were analyzed, including 26 from a frozen collection and 71 prospectively collected samples. The diagnostic performance of SA was notably superior to the conventional workflow in detecting Dientamoeba fragilis (sensitivity 100% vs. 47.4%) and Blastocystis hominis (sensitivity 95% vs. 77.5%). SA had a comparable performance with the conventional workflow in detecting pathogenic protozoa (sensitivity 90% vs. 95%). In contrast, SA had a much lower diagnostic performance in detecting helminths (59.1%) compared to the conventional workflow (100%). We conclude that the Seegene Allplex GI-Parasite assay may be useful for protozoa screening in low-endemic industrialized countries. However, the Allplex GI-Helminth assay is not recommended due to its suboptimal performance compared to microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On October 14, 2016, a 76-year-old man from Belgium was referred to the travel clinic at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp, Belgium) because of suspected loiasis after a worm [...]

Keywords: Fasciola; Fasciola gigantica; ectopic migration; liver lesions; skin emergence EN Fasciola Fasciola gigantica ectopic migration liver lesions skin emergence 1 2 2 11/08/23 20230801 NES 230801 Case presentation An asymptomatic 73-year-old Belgian woman, with a history of cholecystectomy and colon cancer in remission 6 years earlier, was found with a high eosinophil count (3890/ l; 40% of the total leucocytes) during a check-up, 3 months after resettlement in Belgium. Fascioliasis should be suspected whenever liver lesions are associated with eosinophilia.[6] In this scenario, a positive serology justifies empirical treatment with triclabendazole, without parasitological confirmation by liver biopsy and/or coprological exams. During the subsequent workup, liver imaging (Figure 1) showed multiple hypermetabolic nodular liver lesions predominantly in the right liver lobe and a hypermetabolic structure between the liver and abdominal wall. [Extracted from the article]