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Abstract IPIs represent a significant global public health alert in less developed countries because they result in high morbidity and mortality. People of all ages are affected by IPIs; however, children are the most commonly affected, which is linked to their poor hygienic practices, and weak immune status. There are many methods for diagnosis of the intestinal parasitic infections; stool examination, immunological and molecular measures. Microscopic examination remains the cornerstone of parasitological diagnosis but it requirs a high level of experience for parasite detection and identification. There is various concentration techniques were used to improve the detection rates of gastrointestinal parasites as FECT , but it’s a labor intensive procedure and time consuming . Owing to these drawbacks , new, simple, and fast concentration method Feconomics is an alternative for novel fecal concentration in routine laboratory practice which is ready-to-use and contains SAF solution so, it eliminates the need for centrifugation and floatation. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Feconomics technique in comparison to traditional techniques i.e., direct smear and FECT technique for the diagnosis of intestinal parasitic infections in school children. 100 stool samples were collected from children aged from 6 to 12 years (Mean ± SD 8.94±2.004). They had to achieve the criteria: not taking anti parasitic drugs 2 weeks before collection of samples. All samples were examined by microscopic examination including direct mount, FECT technique, staining with Gomori’s trichrome or iron haematoxylin and Kinyoun’s acid- fast method , then all samples examined after using Feconomics technique. In the present study, The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of Feconomics compared with dirct smear were (100%, 50%) respectively , and compared with FECT were (91.2%, 59.1%) respectively. The observed advantages of the Feconomics was that it did not require centrifugation and was rapid; only required 3-5 minutes to be performed. So, it can be used to yield rapid results. Whereas its main disadvantage was its high cost. The present results revealed that Feconomics is perfect and promising fast and high performance technique as it showed the best results of all studied techniques . Moreover it is simple, rapid, has adequate sensitivity and specificity, time saving and it does not require centrifugation. So, it can be used in poorly equipped laboratories . But unfortunately, the Feconomics has the disadvantages of high cost. • Low prevalence of helminthic infections included in this study, caused the study to be based on limited species of helminths. So further studies are needed to provide more information about the use of Feconomics for a wider range of helminths species. • We recommend more studies to confirm the performance of Feconomics method. |