01539nas a2200193   4500000000100000008004100001653001000042653003100052653001500083653001200098653001400110100001700124700001100141700001400152245009500166856007300261520099700334022001401331       2016                            d10aTools10aSoil-transmitted helminths10aMonitoring10aMapping10aFecal egg1 aHoekendijk D1 aHill P1 aSowerby S00aRationale for quality assurance in fecal egg monitoring of soil-transmitted helminthiasis.  uhttp://www.ajtmh.org/content/early/2016/06/23/ajtmh.15-0463.full.pdf3 a<p>Substantial investment has been made into the once "neglected" tropical disease, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, and into control programs that operate within a framework of mapping baseline disease distribution, measuring the effectiveness of applied interventions, establishing when to cease drug administration, and for posttreatment evaluations. However, critical to each of these stages is the determination of helminth infection. The limitations of traditional microscope-based fecal egg diagnostics have not provided quality assurance in the monitoring of parasite disease and suboptimal treatment regimes provide for the potential development of parasite resistance to anthelmintic drugs. Improved diagnostic and surveillance tools are required to protect therapeutic effectiveness and to maintain funder confidence. Such tools may be on the horizon with emergent technologies that offer potential for enhanced visualization and quality-assured quantitation of helminth eggs.</p>
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