An official website of the United States government
Diagnostic Procedures
DPDx is an education resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention and control visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.
Please choose from one of the categories below.
Blood Specimens
Stool Specimens
Serum/Plasma Specimens
Other Specimens
- Shipment
- Tissue
- Tissue specimens for free-living amebae
- Isolation of Leishmania organisms
- Sputum
- Aspirates
- Sputum, induced sputum, and bronchoalveolar avage (BAL) for Pneumocystis jirovecii
- Vaginal swabs for diagnosis and susceptibility of Trichomonas
- Cellulose tape or swube tube procedure for demonstration of pinworm eggs
- Urine
- Whole Organisms
Bench Aids
Blood Specimens
Malaria
- Preparation of blood smears [PDF, 77 KB]
- Staining for malaria parasites [PDF, 44 KB]
- Laboratory diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum [PDF, 127 KB]
- Laboratory diagnosis of Plasmodium vivax [PDF, 166 KB]
- Laboratory diagnosis of Plasmodium ovale [PDF, 165 KB]
- Laboratory diagnosis of Plasmodium malariae [PDF, 149 KB]
- Calculating percent parasitemia and life cycle of Plasmodium species [PDF, 80 KB]
- Comparison of the Plasmodium Species Which Cause Human Malaria [PDF, 28 KB]
- Plasmodium spp. Blood Stage Parasites, Thick Blood Smears [PDF, 938 KB]
- Plasmodium spp. Blood Stage Parasites, Thin Blood Smears [PDF file: 512 KB]
- Planches pour le Diagnostic microscopique du paludisme [PDF file: 885 KB]
Babesiosis
Filariasis
- Introduction and Characteristics of common human filarial parasites [PDF, 435 KB]
- Plate 1 — Wuchereria bancrofti, Loa loa [PDF, 352 KB]
- Plate 2 — Brugia malayi, Brugia timori [PDF, 467 KB]
- Plate 3 — Mansonella perstans, Mansonella ozzardi [PDF, 598 KB]
- Plate 4 — Techniques, artifacts, oddities [PDF, 545 KB]
- Plate 5 — Onchocerca volvulus, Mansonella streptocerca [PDF, 490 KB]
Stool Specimens
- Key Points for Laboratory Identification of Cyclospora sp., Cryptosporidium sp., and Cystoisospora belli [PDF, 109 KB]
- Key Points for Laboratory Diagnosis of Cyclosporiasis [PDF, 177 KB]
- Key Points for Laboratory Diagnosis of Cystoisosporiasis [PDF, 170 KB]
- Laboratory Diagnosis of Amebiasis [PDF, 131 KB]
- Laboratory Diagnosis of Blastocystis hominis infection [PDF, 72 KB]
- Laboratory Diagnosis of Cryptosporidiosis [PDF, 144 KB]
- Laboratory Diagnosis of Giardiasis [PDF, 93 KB]
Ectoparasites
New World Screwworm
DPDx is an educational resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention, control, and treatment visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.