How to use trichrome staining for environmental surveillance of protozoan human parasites

Environmental contamination by protozoan intestinal human parasites has become a significant global threat due to increasing globalisation, climate change and population increase globally. In this communication, we describe a simple laboratory procedure, Trichrome staining, as a preliminary step for determining the environmental presence of Giardia duodenalis, which despite being a worldwide leading diarrheagenic human parasite, infection remains underdiagnosed in the United Kingdom (UK). To highlight the necessity of the implementation of routine monitoring studies for determining biological contamination in highly populated areas to minimise infections, we describe a pilot study in which we detected the presence of Giardia in urban and recreational areas of Leicester. The Trichrome staining technique proved to be a sensitive and cost effective technique for the detection of this parasite in urban areas. The procedure could be easily adopted by relevant authorities with moderate training to perform surveillance studies as a preliminary screening to identify potential risks and perform further thorough studies that are more expensive.