Stool Collection Made Easier

Same Accuracy, Simpler for Your Patients

The Compliance Factor

If you’ve ever ordered comprehensive stool testing, you’ve likely heard patient hesitation: “Fill up three tubes with stool? For three days? Isn’t there an easier way?”

Historically, the three-day collection process was designed to maximize parasite detection, especially for parasites with intermittent shedding patterns. While effective, it could be cumbersome for patients and sometimes lead to incomplete or incorrect collections.

The impact of choosing the right collection timeframe is important, as patients are 28% more likely to complete a 1-day collection compared to a 3-day. And when it comes to clinical decision-making, having actionable data from a completed test is far better than having no results at all.

Three-Day Collection is Simple

The traditional three-day protocol is available for cases where you want the broadest temporal sampling of gut parasites. A few things are new with the collection process:

• Patients use one single green-top tube containing preservative for all three days.
• Only a small, pea-sized scoop of stool is collected each day (instead of filling an entire tube).
• The stool is combined with preservative that minimizes odor and improves sample stability.

This preserves the strengths of the three-day approach while reducing the burden on the patient.

One-Day Collection is Simpler

For patients who can’t, or simply won’t, collect stool over multiple days, you can confidently recommend a single day collection for most clinical situations. Here's why:

The literature supports it.

Studies of microscopy-only stool testing suggest more sensitivity with multiple days, but take a closer look at the numbers:

• In one high-prevalence cohort, a single sample detected 75.9% of parasitic infections, adding a second specimen raised sensitivity to about 92%, and the third specimen contributed an incremental ~8% detection gain.
• Not captured in these studies is Genova's use of state-of-the-art AI microscopy in tandem with traditional microscopy. Our internal data demonstrates up to ~90% sensitivity for a 1-day collection and those numbers go higher with combined methodologies...

Genova uses multiple methodologies.

We combine traditional ova & parasite microscopy and quantitative PCR to detect parasite DNA which means a single day of collection can reveal a lot, even when organism numbers are low or intermittent.

• Genova's microscopy (AI + traditional) shows ~90% sensitivity from a single sample.
• PCR included with GI Effects brings sensitivity to ~100% for key protozoa! Genova's combined methodolgy using just a single sample outperforms a microscopy-only approach, even when multiple samples are examined.

Collection Method	Best Use Case
1-day Collection	Low-to-moderate suspicion for parasites, patients with compliance barriers, pediatric cases, or when rapid turnaround is prioritized.
3-day Collection	High suspicion for parasitic infection, recent travel to endemic areas, or immunosuppressed patients.

The result of Genova's unique multiple methodology approach means a 1-day collection can deliver parasite detection performance very close to a full 3-day collection, especially in lower-risk cases.

Counseling Your Patients

We spoke to Dr. Tan Hass about how she councils her patients on stool testing. She shared how she frames up stool collection with the GI Effects:

“The 3-day test offers the most complete picture, and it's simple: just add a small pea-sized sample to the green-top tube each day. If one day is all you can manage, follow the instructions to add three small scoops and we can still get excellent parasite detection to guide treatment with advanced PCR.”

Bottom Line for Providers

Genova offers two strong, clinically valid options to support patients. A 3-day collection for maximum microbiome and parasite insight with the option of a high-confidence 1-day collection for situations where ease, speed, or compliance is the priority.

Either way, your patients get the same comprehensive gut health assessment powered by Genova's multi-modal testing technology.

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