Comparison of Giemsa and Wright’s Stain For Differential Analysis

Giemsa stain is available in most developing nations for malarial parasite detection. In the absence of Wright stain, Giemsa is also used to perform differential assessments. We are comparing Giemsa and Wright stains using buffers to determine the optimal staining protocol for differential analysis. We compared Giemsa with reverse osmosis drinking water (RO), deionized water (DI), buffer at pH 7.2, to Wright’s stain with RO and DI, using Modified‐Wright’s stain with buffer in an automated slide stainer as the control. Blood samples (n=3) were drawn from the research team and analyzed using these staining protocols. Wright’s stain with DI performed equivalent to control for white blood cell (WBC), platelets (PLT), and red blood cell (RBC). Undiluted Giemsa with DI showed good staining of WBCs and PLTs, and moderate staining of RBCs (grayish discoloration). Diluted Giemsa with buffer stained RBCs poorly (pale ghost cells) but stained WBC, and PLT well. Diluted Giemsa with DI demonstrated good staining of PLTs, poor staining of RBCs, and moderate staining of WBCs. Undiluted Giemsa with RO showed poor staining of RBCs with moderate staining of PLTs and WBCs. Diluted Giemsa with RO has poor staining of RBCs and WBCs, and moderate staining of PLTs. Wright with RO stained RBCs, WBCs, and PLTs poorly. We recommend using Wright stain with DI water for differential analysis but undiluted Giemsa with DI water is an adequate substitute. Support or Funding Information NG is supported by the DeNardo Education and Research Foundation grant.