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

Abstract

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' veetor by assessing vector numbers in rnan-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 imprevement. In the hollses 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