Alliances for Chagas elimination in Central America
Global economic losses caused by Chagas disease are estimated at USD$7 billion (just under CA$9 billion) per year. In Central America, five million poor people living in houses made of mud, adobe, or thatch materials are at risk of contracting Chagas disease. The most important Chagas transmission vector in the region is Triatoma dimidiata, a native insect with the capacity to re-infest houses a few months after chemical spraying. Despite longstanding insecticide-based control measures to eliminate household infestation, Chagas transmission persists in many rural areas of the region. Following the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Committee for Chagas Control in Central America and Mexico, novel control interventions, including house improvements, will soon start in priority disease hotspots. Past research has shown that long-lasting, low-cost, and culturally adapted house improvements are successful in making houses resistant to vector re-infestation and preventing infection.
This project, implemented in partnership with the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, will demonstrate the feasibility of eliminating Chagas as a public health threat in a highly endemic area, and set the basis for its replication in other hotspots of Central America and Mexico. It will take place in the most important hotspot of Chagas transmission located along the Guatemala-El Salvador border, targeting 48 rural communities of the Jutiapa Department in Guatemala. In addition to reducing disease transmission, the project will significantly improve the living conditions of 32,400 vulnerable people.
An integrated disease control plan will combine community actions to reduce transmission risk factors (such as housing improvements) with access to timely diagnoses and treatment of infected individuals. Among the activities are training for health professionals in the development, evaluation, and integration of this approach into national public health policies, and reinforcement of surveillance systems.
IDRC, in partnership with the Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative and in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization, aim to expand donor support and local action to halt the transmission of this entirely preventable, costly, and debilitating disease.
Project ID
108651
Project Status
Active
End Date
Duration
42 months
IDRC Officer
Roberto Bazzani
Total Funding
CA$ 1,240,200.00
Location
Guatemala
Programs
Global Health
Global Health
Institution Country
Switzerland
Project Leader
Andrea Marchiol
Institution
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative
Institution Website
Institution Country
Guatemala
Project Leader
Carlota Monroy
Institution
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
Outputs
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Anexo 5 interrupción de la transmisión de Chagas en una región endémica de Guatemala : el impacto a largo plazo de una intervención de ecosalud Informes
Author(s): Carlota, Monroy Language: Spanish |
Anexo No. 8 : fichas de alcances para documentar los cambios de actitudes Informes
Author(s): Carlota, Monroy Language: Spanish |
Anexo 9 : talleres de emprendimiento comunitario con enfoque de género Informes
Author(s): Carlota, Monroy Language: Spanish |
Proyecto 108651-001 : informe final correspondiente al periodo del 1 de Diciembre de 2017 al 31 de Enero 2022 Informes
Author(s): Carlota, Monroy Language: Spanish |
Taller teórico-práctico de atención integral de la enfermedad de Chagas : informe Informes
Author(s): Marchiol, Andrea, Castillo, Cecilia Language: Spanish |
Guatemala webinar report 12/09/2020 Report
The report is a brief outline of workshop activities. There were 371 attendees. Chagas is an autochthonous vector, thus control measures must include innovative interventions that require community participation, housing improvement, and articulation of entomological surveillance with epidemiological surveillance. Secondary prevention, that is, caring for people is key to advancing the goal of eliminating chagas disease as a public health problem. Author(s): Marchiol, Andrea Language: English |
Anexo 7 : estudio antropológico : factores que contribuyen o limitan la sostenibilidad de la mejora de vivienda para el control de la enfermedad de Chagas Informes
Author(s): Carlota, Monroy Language: Spanish |
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Infestation dynamics of Triatoma dimidiata in highly deforested tropical dry forest regions of Guatemala Article
The study evaluated how land-use, combined with domiciliary risk factors, influences the infestation dynamics of T. dimidiata for four villages in a dry forest region with a strong deforestation history. Land use, measured with drone and satellite images, was classified into four categories (houses, monocultures and pastures, woodland and shrubland, and bare soil). Domiciliary risk factors and infestation were assessed through entomological surveys. Almost all infested houses have reproducing populations in this region. A model based on four weighted domiciliary risk factors (adobe or bajareque walls, intradomicile animals, intradomicile clutter, and dirt floors) explains the infestation risk. Author(s): Penados, Daniel, Pineda, José, Catalan, Michelle, Avila, Miguel, Stevens, Lori, Agreda, Emmanuel, Monroy, Carlota Language: English |
Integrated vector control of Chagas disease in Guatemala : a case of social innovation in health Article
An interdisciplinary team from the Laboratory of Applied Entomology and Parasitology (LENAP) of the Universidad de San Carlos (USAC), in collaboration with communities of Comapa, Guatemala, developed an effective solution to address the risk for Chagas disease. This article describes how the integration of criteria of social innovation into a home improvement strategy for Chagas disease control, can generate processes of transformation in health by considering sociocultural conditions. The case study revealed that home improvement conditions motivated women and their families to adopt new and health-promoting practices that also favorably impacted household and community economies. Author(s): Castro-Arroyave, Diana, Monroy, Maria Carlota, Irurita, Maria Isabel Language: English |
Evaluación diagnóstica de pruebas serológicas para el diagnóstico de la enfermedad de Chagas en Guatemala : protocolo de evaluación diagnóstica Material de formación
Author(s): Díaz, Andrés Caicedo, Marchiol, Andrea, Herazo, Rafael, González, Selene, Paniagua, Paola, Morales, Zoraida Language: Spanish |
Guatemala : características y procesos en la atención del paciente con Chagas - informe de diagnóstico Estudios
Author(s): Marchiol, Andrea, Herazo, Rafael Language: Spanish |
Project alliances for Chagas diseases elimination in Central America Report
The report covers activities of the secondary prevention component of the project, which focused on development of a Care Roadmap for people affected by Chagas Disease in the intervention area, while coordinating with primary prevention through institutions in the Alliances project, San Carlos National University (USAC), and Mundo Sano Foundation (FMS). Main results include: identification of barriers to the diagnosis, treatment and comprehensive care of Chagas disease; Support of protocol for the evaluation of the performance of serological diagnostic tests for Chagas disease; Building a comprehensive Chagas Care Roadmap; and Strengthening of local capacity to diagnose and treat the disease. Author(s): Marchiol, Andrea, Castillo, Cecilia Language: English |