Lardeux Frédéric, Depickere S., Aliaga C., Chavez T., Zambrana L. (2015). Experimental control of Triatoma infestans in poor rural villages of Bolivia through community participation. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 109 (2), p. 150-158. ISSN 0035-9203.
Titre du document
Experimental control of Triatoma infestans in poor rural villages of Bolivia through community participation
Lardeux Frédéric, Depickere S., Aliaga C., Chavez T., Zambrana L.
Source
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2015,
109 (2), p. 150-158 ISSN 0035-9203
Background: Triatoma infestans is the main vector of Chagas disease in the southern cone countries. Present control strategies based on indoor and outdoor residual insecticide spraying are not sufficient to control disease transmission, particularly in Bolivia. Techniques based on the management of the human environment may be good alternatives or supplements. Methods: Social and entomological surveys were carried out in four villages of Bolivia situated in the dry inter-Andean Valleys and the Chaco region. Risk factors for house infestation by T. infestans were identified, and an eco-health intervention based on education and community participation was carried out to reduce the risks of house infestation. It consisted of implementing simple and low cost vector control techniques such as coating of mud walls, cleaning activities and removal of poultry that enter rooms to lay eggs. Results: The eco-health intervention significantly reduced the number of infested bedrooms, the mean abundance of T. infestans in bedrooms and beds, especially in the Chaco region. Mud wall coating was well accepted and could be proposed as a supplementary tool to the National Program of Chagas Disease Control to enhance the effects of insecticide sprayings. Conclusions: Even if cleaning activities were still neglected, community participation proved to be effective in reducing house infestation.
