HOW TO TEST YOURSELF
ful. Ask a pharmacist to prepare Lugol’s Iodine Solution
for you, as follows:
- 44 grams (1½ oz) iodine crystals
- 88 grams (3 oz) potassium iodide crystals
Dissolve both in 1 liter (quart) filtered water. This may
take a day of frequent shaking.
Method for saliva:
- Pour the 20% formaldehyde into a small amber bottle or
other receptacle to a depth of about 1/8 inch. Keep tightly
closed.
- The person to be tested is asked to salivate into the bottle
so the organisms are immediately “fixed” without under-
going cooling first. The total volume should be about
double the original amount of formaldehyde used. Make a
mark on the container so the subject knows how much to
produce. The resultant concentration of formaldehyde will
be about 10%.
- Shake the bottle a few times. Set it aside for 24 hours to
settle (less if testing is urgent).
- With a dropper, draw up some of the bottom settlings. Put
one drop on a slide and apply a coverslip.
- View under low power of microscope. Compare objects
you observe with specimens obtained on slides from bio-
logical supply companies.
Note: Persons with HIV and moderate AIDS will show
about one to ten parasite stages per slide. It requires several
hours of searching. Persons with HIV and severe AIDS show
10 or more fluke stages per slide; this makes the task of finding
them much easier. Persons with terminal untreated cancer have
many more fluke stages than relatively well persons.
