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Wall plastering and paints as methods to control vectors of Chagas disease in Guatemala

1998; Japan Society of Medical Entomology and Zoology; Volume: 49; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7601/mez.49.187

2185-5609

Carlota Monroy, Antonieta Rodas, Mildred MEJIA, Yuichiro TABARU,

Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences

This study shows the effectiveness of house modification for the control of Chagas' disease vectors in natural and artificial conditions. Wall plastering and paint were evaluated for the control of population of Chagas' vector by assessing vector numbers in man-hour collection before and after modifications in 1993. We evaluated 29 houses, from three small villages in Villa Canales, located in the Department of Guatemala; eighteen of them had some kind of modification or improvement. In the houses covered with plastered of cement and lime, we found a 92% reduction of the total vector population in the following year. Other houses with partial modification and paint with lime showed a reduction of 53% and 35%, respectively. In houses without improvements, the number of vectors remained the same. We collected Triatoma dimidiata Latreille (1911), and T. nitida Usinger (1939) in the houses; the infection rate with Trypanosoma cruzi was 21% and 50%, respectively. After the house modifications no significant changes occurred in the parasitic ratio. There was no statistical difference in longevity of T. dimidiata when kept in artificial conditions (simulation of wall plasters) compared to research in the fields.