What is direct wet mount examination?

What is direct wet mount examination?

The direct wet mount is used primarily to detect motile protozoan trophozoites. These organisms are very pale and transparent, two characteristics that require the use of low light intensity. Protozoan organisms in a saline preparation will usually appear as refractile objects.

Why is a wet mount slide useful?

A wet mount is made by placing a fluid solution on a slide, suspending a specimen in a solution, and then covering the specimen and the solution with a cover slide. Why would use a wet mount? To increase the specimens translucency and to make it easier to stain.

How do you prepare for a direct fecal smear?

  1. Place a small drop of saline (water may rupture trophozoites) on a microscope slide.
  2. Add a very small amount of well-mixed fresh feces and mix carefully with saline to form a very thin slurry.
  3. Place a coverslip over the drop.
  4. Adjust the light intensity on the microscope to yield maximum contrast and examine at 10x.

What is direct smear used for?

A direct smear from a clinical specimen can be used to: Judge the quality of the specimen. Provide the clinician with same-day information regarding possible pathogenic organisms, pending results of culture and sensitivity. Contribute to selection of culture media, especially with mixed flora.

When is a direct fecal smear used?

Direct fecal smear technique is the simplest and easiest technique to facilitate detection of intestinal parasites that infected subjects pass in their feces. The presence of intestinal protozoa (trophozoites or cysts) or helminth eggs can be observed directly with a light microscope.

What is a positive wet mount?

A vaginal wet mount, also called a wet prep or vaginal smear, is a test done to find the cause of vaginitis, an inflammation of the vagina. Your doctor will usually order the test if you’re having symptoms like itching, a discharge, or pain.

What can a wet prep detect?

The vaginitis wet mount test is a test to detect an infection of the vagina. A vaginitis test looks for the cause of vaginal irritation and discharge, which is usually a yeast, bacterial, or parasitic infection.

What can be seen on a wet mount?

A sample of the vaginal discharge is placed on a glass slide and mixed with a salt solution. The slide is looked at under a microscope for bacteria, yeast cells, trichomoniasis (trichomonads), white blood cells that show an infection, or clue cells that show bacterial vaginosis.

When preparing a wet mount specimen for viewing?

In a wet mount, a drop of water is used to suspend the specimen between the slide and cover slip. Place a sample on the slide. Using a pipette, place a drop of water on the specimen. Then place on edge of the cover slip over the sample and carefully lower the cover slip into place using a toothpick or equivalent.

What diluents are used for wet mounts?

Iodine solutions are used to stain protozoan cysts in wet mounts. It is advantageous to have a weak rather than a strong iodine solution. The strong iodine tends to coagulate the fecal particles and to destroy the refractile nature of the organism.

What is the preparation of wet mounts of bacterial cells recommended?

To make a wet mount you need to add two or three loopfuls of a broth culture onto a clear slide and then carefully place a cover slip on to the slide (it will be demonstrated by instructor).

Why do we use normal saline in stool?

– The saline wet mount is used for the initial microscopic examination of stools. It is employed primarily to demonstrate worm eggs, larvae, protozoan trophozoites, and cysts. This type of mount can also reveal the presence of red blood cells and white blood cells.

What is the importance of direct saline and iodine mounts?

The evaluation of saline direct mounts provides opportunity to study the motility of any trophozoites present. While the addition of iodine stains the internal structures necessary for identification of the cysts of some amoeba and other protozoa, trophozoites are rapidly killed and are sometimes unidentifiable.

What are the other uses of wet mount and hanging drop preparation?

The hanging drop and wet mount techniques allow for observation of living organisms. The wet mount tend to dry out quickly under the heat of the microscope light; it is simpler to perform than the wet mount, but it is useful for short-term observation only.

What are the advantages of doing the hanging drop technique?

Advantages: Like the wet mount, the hanging drop method preserves cell shape and arrangement. The Vaseline-sealed depression also slows down the drying-out process, so the organisms can be observed for longer periods. Disadvantages: The hanging drop method is also far too risky to use with highly pathogenic organisms.