Urbanisation, risk stratification and house infestation with a major vector of Chagas disease in an endemic municipality of the Argentine Chaco.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The occurrence of the major vectors of Chagas disease has historically been linked to poor rural housing, but urban or peri-urban infestations are increasingly being reported. We evaluated a simple risk index to detect houses infested with Triatoma infestans and tested whether house infestation and vector abundance increased across the urban-to-rural gradient in Avia Terai, an endemic municipality of the Argentine Chaco; whether the association between infestation and selected ecological determinants varied across the gradient; and whether urban and peri-urban infestations were associated with population settlement history.

Methods

We conducted a screening survey of house infestation in 2296 urban, peri-urban and rural dwellings to identify high-risk houses based

SUBMITTER: Gaspe MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7302373 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature