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A multidisciplinary, collaborative, inter-agency and comprehensive approach for the control of Chagas Disease as a public health problem in Guatemala

Authors :
Roberto Chuit
Rafael Herazo
Belter Alcantara
Karla Lange
Diego Weinberg
Emmanuel O. Agreda
Roberto Salvatella Agrelo
Marcelo Abril
Daniel Penados
Andrea Marchiol
Roberto Bazzani
José Pineda
Maria Carlota Monroy
Elisa Laparra Ruiz
Antonieta Rodas
Source :
Acta Tropica. 225:106157
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Elsevier BV, 2022.

Abstract

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has defined Chagas Disease hotspots in Central America associated with the vector Triatoma spp. Triatoma dimidiata is a native vector adapted to multiple environments, including intra-domestic and peri-domestic habitats. A multi-institutional project named "Alliances for the elimination of Chagas in Central America" was created to help reduce the incidence of the disease in the region. Activities performed in the field as part of the project included aspects of vector surveillance and control, improvement of houses, diagnosis and treatment of individuals, health promotion, training of human resources and identification of access barriers to diagnosis and treatment. As a base line study, eleven villages, comprised of 1,572 households, were entomologically evaluated (83.4% overall participation); five were found to have very high infestation rates (20%), three had high infestation rates (8-20%) and three had low-infestation rates (8%), coinciding with the category of infestation-risk of the houses within each village. Serological tests were carried out in 812 people (80% participation) in two of the 11 villages and none of the 128 children tested, less than 5 years of age, were positive for Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Community participation in all the activities was high (70%). The collaboration between several subnational, national, and international institutions, each with specific roles, promoted community participation in the activities of vector control and patient care, thus, establishing a baseline to continue implementing and monitoring project progress.

Details

ISSN :
0001706X
Volume :
225
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Acta Tropica
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....ab16fb584937bea47ae526d502097495
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.106157