Comparison of acridine orange fluorescent microscopy and gram stain light microscopy for the rapid detection of bacteria in cerebrospinal fluid.
Supriya SharmaJyoti AcharyaMegha Raj BanjaraPrakash GhimireAnjana SinghPublished in: BMC research notes (2020)
Bacterial pathogens were detected in 9.30% (36/387) by either of the three tests, 9.04% (35/387) by AO stain, 8.27% (32/387) by culture and 6.46% (25/387) by Gram's stain. Considering culture as a gold standard, the sensitivity of AO stain was higher than Gram stain. The specificity of AO stain was 98.87%. Detection and differentiation of the bacteria was much clear in AO staining than Gram staining. AO is a better alternative to Gram stain in the rapid detection of bacterial pathogens in CSF in the setting where fluorescent microscope is available.