Giemsa stain named after German chemist and bacteriologist Gustav Giemsa, is used in cytogenetics and for the histopathological diagnosis of malaria and other parasites.Giemsa stain for blood films and for the Wolbach′s Giemsa method for paraffin sections.
Giemsa stain is a classic blood film stain for peripheral blood smears and bone marrow specimens. Erythrocytes stain pink, platelets show a light pale pink, lymphocyte cytoplasm stains sky blue, monocyte cytoplasm stains pale blue, and leukocyte nuclear chromatin stains magenta. It is also used to visualize the classic "safety pin" shape in Yersinia pestis.