Quality control for parasitologic data

Accuracy of data is of paramount concern for all research. The task of providing objective assurances of accuracy of parasitologic data for a large, multi-center epidemiologic research project in Egypt (Epidemiology 1, 2, 3 [EPI 1, 2, 3]) presented a unique set of challenges undertaken jointly by the Ministry of Health's Qalyub Center for Field and Applied Research with technical assistance from Tulane University (New Orleans, LA). The EPI 1, 2, 3 project was part of large bilateral research program, the Schistosomiasis Research Project, undertaken jointly by the governments of Egypt and the United States. This paper describes the nature of the quality control system developed to accomplish this task, presents results and discusses the findings.