Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

explain t his t rend. F rom t alking t o r esidents of N ueva A lborada a nd o thers f amiliar w ith t he
area, I know that the southern section is newer, so perhaps the bugs simply had not spread to this
region yet. Vector dispersion is common among homes that are close to one another (Levy et al.,
2008), so it is likely the bugs will infest the southern region.
Because m any elements o f C hagas d isease t ransmission ar e s till u nknown, a m ain
strength of t his s tudy i s f urthering t he und erstanding t he i nfluence of a nimals, hous ehold
materials, a nd s patial f actors on ve ctor i nfestation of T. infestans in pe ri-urban communities.
Although no bugs tested positive for T. cruzi in Nueva Alborada at the time of the study, other
pueblos jóvenes in A requipa ha ve c onfirmed t he pr esence of t he pa rasite, s o i mplementing
preventative tactics is important. H owever, some limitations of this study restrict the extent to
which t he r esults c an b e us ed t o pr edict i nfestation i n ot her a reas. Because t he s tudy w as
conducted in a small site with specific climatic conditions and domestic animal behaviors, the
findings may not accurately be generalized to other sites. Since the researchers assisted with the
bug collection in certain parts of Nueva Alborada, some sampling bias exists in the data. Simple
data on presence or absence of animals was recorded in the surveys, so the analysis neglects the
effect of a nimal a bundance on bug i nfestation. A lso, t he bug popul ations m ay not a ccurately
correspond to the surveyed animals but may be an effect of animals no longer present (Levy et
al., 2006).
Precise prevalence rates of Chagas disease are not known for Arequipa since large-scale
surveys have not been conducted. However, a survey in one peri-urban community of Arequipa
indicated a 5.3% rate of infection of 2-18 year old children (Levy et al., 2007). P resence of T.
cruzi in t he hum an pop ulation c oupled w ith do mestic a nimals a nd hous ehold i nfestation of
triatomines in the pueblos jóvenes of Arequipa facilitates Chagas disease transmission; thus, it is
important to have an effective strategy to minimize the disease risk. I nsecticide treatments are
quite e ffective i n ridding hous eholds of T. infestans, but t hey are a s hort-term s olution s ince
reinfestation from n eighboring c ommunities is likely. S ome mo re s ustainable pr eventative
approaches i nclude pr eventing dom estic a nimals f rom s leeping i n t he s ame r oom a s pe ople,
stuccoing walls, and educating communities about Chagas disease (Cohen and Gürtler, 2001).
To advance the understanding of Chagas disease prevention, future studies might address
the host competence of sheep and other large livestock to T. cruzi and their association with T.
infestans infestation. T he pr esence of c hickens s hould c ontinue t o be studied f or i ts pot ential
zooprophylactic e ffect w hen other a nimals a re e xcluded f rom dom estic hous ehold a reas. A
comparative s tudy between N ueva A lborada and a n eighboring T. cruzi-positive community
would be a us eful a nalysis be cause i t c ould pr ovide i nsight r egarding w hy only s ome
communities have the parasite.
Conclusion
This t hesis ha s s hown how e xamining hous ehold s urvey i nformation combined w ith
interview data can explain the risk factors involved with Chagas disease in pueblos jóvenes of
Peru. C hapter 1 e xamined t he s ocial a nd pol itical ba ckground of periurban a reas i n P eru,
especially A requipa, i n order t o co ntextualize C hagas d isease em ergence i n pueblos jóvenes.
Interviews with community founders of several pueblos jóvenes of Arequipa revealed historical
information about how these pueblos jóvenes formed and what the residents understand about the
Chagas disease vector. Focusing on household survey data from one such periurban community,
Nueva A lborada, i ndicated how hous ehold c haracteristics s uch a s c racks i n w alls a nd t he
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