How do you do a malaria smear?

A thin smear being prepared.

1. Place a small drop of blood on the pre-cleaned, labeled slide, near its frosted end.
2. Bring another slide at a 30-45° angle up to the drop, allowing the drop to spread along the contact line of the 2 slides.
3. Quickly push the upper (spreader) slide toward the unfrosted end of the lower slide.

What is malaria smear?

Malaria parasites can be identified by examining under the microscope a drop of the patient’s blood, spread out as a “blood smear” on a microscope slide. Prior to examination, the specimen is stained (most often with the Giemsa stain) to give the parasites a distinctive appearance.

How do you perform a blood smear?

1. Place clean glass slide on a flat surface. Add one small drop of blood to one end.
2. Take another clean slide, and holding at an angle of about 45 deg, touch the blood with one end of the slide so the blood runs along the edge of the slide by capillary action.
3. Make 2 smears, allow to air dry, and label clearly.

How do you stain malaria parasite?

Use of Giemsa stain is the recommended and most reliable procedure for staining thick and thin blood films. Giemsa solution is composed of eosin and methylene blue (azure). The eosin component stains the parasite nucleus red, while the methylene blue component stains the cytoplasm blue.

Where should blood be taken from to perform a smear for malaria?

Blood smears are taken most often from a finger prick. Thick and thin blood smears will let doctors know the percentage of red blood cells that are infected (parasite density) and what type of parasites are present. A thick blood smear is a drop of blood on a glass slide.

What does malaria look like on a blood smear?

Examination of Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smear is the standard test for the diagnosis of malarial infection. Classic ring-shaped/headphone-shaped trophozoites are seen in case of Plasmodium falciparum infection. Cerebral malaria is a complicated form of malaria which is most commonly associated with P.

What’s the advantage of a blood smear compared to a complete blood count?

The white blood cell count on a blood smear gives important information about the number of the different types of blood cells as well as other findings. When a particular type of white blood cells is increased, it can give important clues about underlying problems.

What stain is used for malaria diagnosis?

Giemsa stain – Recommended for detection and identification of blood parasites.

How do you make a 10% Giemsa stain?

Make up a 10% Giemsa solution with distilled/deionized water buffered to pH 7.2. If only one slide is to be stained, you will require about 3 ml of prepared stain. Allow 3 drops of stock Giemsa solution (from the Pasteur pipette) to each millilitre of buffered water to give a 10% solution.

How to recognize malaria parasites in blood films?

Examining blood films for malaria parasites By the end of this Unit you should be able to: • distinguish malaria parasites in thin blood films, and recognize and name the three stages of trophozoite, schizont and gametocyte

How are thick and thin blood smears used for malaria diagnosis?

Thick and Thin Blood Smear for Malaria Diagnosis 1 Thick Blood smear. Thick blood film samples a relatively large volume of blood thus allowing more efficient detection of parasites (increased sensitivity). 2 Thin Blood Smear. 3 Staining of the thick/thin smear with Giemsa Stain. 4 Microscopic examination.

Can you treat malaria with a blood test?

In the process, the parasite starts infecting and destroying red blood cells. Malaria can be treated and controlled in case an early diagnosis can be done using specific malaria test. Prevention of malaria using vaccines is still not possible.

What kind of microscopy is used to diagnose malaria?

However, species determination might be more difficult. Blood smear from a patient with malaria; microscopic examination shows Plasmodium falciparum parasites (arrows) infecting some of the patient’s red blood cells. (CDC photo) Microscopy is an established, relatively simple technique that is familiar to most laboratorians.