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https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/13409
SENSITIVITY OF GOMEZ-NUNEZ BOXES FOR THE DETECTION OF HOUSEHOLD INFESTATION WITH PANSTRONGYLUS MEGISTUS
Affilliation
Harvard School of Public Health. Department of Tropical Public Health. Boston, USA
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, Ba, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, Ba, Brasil
Abstract
Four methods fo r detecting household infestations with Panstrongylus megistus
were compared: 1) manual collection; 2) collection afterpyrethrum application; 3) search
viable eggs; and 4) Gomez-Nuhez boxes. Manual collection was the most sensitive method
(23% infested), followed by pyrethrum (21%), Gomez-Nuhez boxes (15%) and viable
eggs (12%). About 10% o f infested houses were positive exclusively on the Gomez-Nunez
box test. Moreover, 6 o u to fth e 7 houses positive exclusively on the Gomez-Nunez method
were located in a recently sprayed area, where P. megistus density was low. Inspection o f
Gomez-Nunez boxes at 12 weekspost-application was twice as effective as inspection at 6
weekspost-application. Triatomine feces was the most common evidencefor thepresence o f
P. megistus fo u n d within Gomez-Nunez boxes. Gomez-Nunez boxes area a useful adjunct
to manual collection in detecting domestic infestations with P. megistus, especially in
areas where bug densities are low. However, the utility o f Gomez-Nuhez boxes must be
weighed against the time and labor they require.
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