Evaluation of a rapid immunochromatographic test for the diagnosis of intestinal protozoan infections among patients attending a rural outreach outpatient department in Northern India.

This article evaluates the diagnostic performance of rapid point-of-care (POC) immunochromatographic tests (ICT) for detecting intestinal protozoan infections—specifically Giardia duodenalis, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, and Cryptosporidium species—among patients in rural Northern India. In a study of 78 patients, stool microscopy identified 10 protozoan infections, but the ICT detected only 55.5% of Giardia cases and failed to detect Entamoeba infections, resulting in an overall sensitivity of 50% and specificity of 98.5%. The findings indicate that while ICT offers a quicker and less labor-intensive alternative, its limited sensitivity and inability to reliably detect Entamoeba species make it unsuitable as a standalone diagnostic tool, and it should be used to supplement rather than replace stool microscopy in resource-limited settings.