Background: Definitive early-stage diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is important despite the number of laboratory tests that have been developed to complement clinical features and epidemiologic data in case definition. Pathologic changes in response to viral infection might be reflected in proteomic patterns in sera of SARS patients. Methods: We developed a mass spectrometric decision tree classification algorithm using surface-enhanced la-
Background
Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common vaginitis in females. The commonly used diagnostic method, 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) smear microscopy, makes it not very easy to recognize fungi.
Methods
Vaginal secretions were collected from clinically suspected VVC patients and divided into four groups and examined using KOH, CFW (Calcofluor White), FB 85(fluorescent brightener 85), and culture. The data were statistically analyzed.
Results
In total, 110 patients with suspected VVC were recruited. The positive rates of KOH, CFW, FB 85, and the culture method were 68.2%, 64.5%, 61.8%, and 77%, respectively. According to the McNemar test, there was no statistically significant difference between the KOH, CFW, and the FB 85 methods (p > 0.05). However, CFW had a shorter diagnosis time than the KOH method and had a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). Moreover, CFW has the highest sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. In morphological recognition, it was easier to recognize fungal structures with CFW and FB 85 than with the KOH.
Conclusions
The fluorescent method is a good method for the diagnosis of VVC. And the fungi can be found more quickly. Similar to CFW, FB 85 is also a potential good fluorescent reagent for the diagnosis of VVC and has potential value for application in clinical fungal infection diseases.
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