Disease Prevention and Control / Communicable Diseases / Chagas Disease

Field Photos: Guatemalan Anti-Chinche Campaign through Community-Based Integrated Vector Control (IVM)

The 15 photographs below illustrate activities aimed at integrated vector control in relation to the prevention and control of Chagas disease in poverty-prone rural areas of Guatemala. This initiative was launched by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) as part of the collaboration agreement between PAHO and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), within the Framework of the Initiative of Central American Countries against Chagas Disease (IPCA). Photos sent by Lic. Jun Nakagawa, PAHO-JICA Regional Advisor on Chagas, PAHO-Honduras, and taken by Lic. Ken Hashimoto, UNV (United Nations Volunteer) attached to PAHO Guatemala office. Click on the thumbnail images to view them in original size (in JPG).

Supervisor shows how to detect and spray for chinches on infestad wall	Ministry personnel conducting household search for vectors	Looking for chinches	Ministry personnel applying insecticides in an infested household
The vectors responsible for transmitting the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi in Guatemala are the so-called 'chinches' Triatoma dimidiata and Rhodnius prolixus. These insects infest the adobe walls and thatched roofs of the dwellings occupied by poor people in rural areas.
Applying insecticides to the walls where the chinches hide	Staff training on the type of dwelling vulnerable to infestation	Searching in every nook and cranny	Detection requires systematic searching
Integrated vector control means more than detection and spraying, however. It involves complementary IEC (information-education-communication) activities from human-resource development, teaching the populace how to work with the authorities to identify chinches and prevent infection, to teaching health workers, entomologists and epidemiologists the newest and most efficient techniques for dealing with the problem. Blood-testing is also carried out in infested areas. More photos on the Guatemalan project
Triatoma dimidiata found in an infested household	Schoolchildren learn how to identify vectors	Production and distribution of educational materials	Community outreach: taking the campaign to the people themselves
Community health promotion	Workshop for epidemiologists	Workshop for entomologists	*More photos:* Guatemala: project \| blood testing El Salvador \| Honduras PAHO Chagas page

	The Pan American Health Organization Promoting Health in the Americas