First report on prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health-care workers in Nicaragua.

The Nicaraguan COVID-19 situation is exceptional for Central America. The government restricts testing and testing supplies, and the true extent of the coronavirus crisis remains unknown. Dozens of deaths have been reported among health-care workers.

Utility of entomological indices for predicting transmission of dengue virus: secondary analysis of data from the Camino Verde trial in Mexico and Nicaragua.

Dengue vector entomological indices are widely used to monitor vector density and disease control activities. But the value of these indices as predictors of dengue infection is not established. We used data from the impact assessment of a trial of community mobilization for dengue prevention (Camino Verde) to examine the associations between vector indices and evidence of dengue infection and their value for predicting dengue infection levels.

Cost-effectiveness of community mobilization (Camino Verde) for dengue prevention in Nicaragua and Mexico: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: We assessed the cost-effectiveness of Camino Verde, a community-based mobilization strategy to prevent and control dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases. A cluster-randomized controlled trial in Managua, Nicaragua, and in three coastal regions in Guerrero, Mexico (75 intervention and 75 control clusters), Camino Verde used non-governmental community health workers, called brigadistas, to support community mobilization. This donor-funded trial demonstrated reductions of 29.

Mobilising communities for Aedes aegypti control: the SEPA approach.

Unlabelled: Camino Verde (the Green Way) is an evidence-based community mobilisation tool for prevention of dengue and other mosquito-borne viral diseases. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in a cluster-randomised controlled trial conducted in 2010-2013 in Nicaragua and Mexico. The common approach that brought functional consistency to the Camino Verde intervention in both Mexico and Nicaragua is Socialisation of Evidence for Participatory Action (SEPA).

Beyond efficacy in water containers: Temephos and household entomological indices in six studies between 2005 and 2013 in Managua, Nicaragua.

Background: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of community mobilisation for dengue prevention in Mexico and Nicaragua reported, as a secondary finding, a higher risk of dengue virus infection in households where inspectors found temephos in water containers. Data from control sites in the preceding pilot study and the Nicaragua trial arm provided six time points (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011, 2012, 2013) to examine potentially protective effects of temephos on entomological indices under every day conditions of the national vector control programme.

Methods: Three household entomological indicators for Aedes aegypti breeding were Household Index, Households with pupae, and Pupae per Person.

The Camino Verde intervention in Nicaragua, 2004-2012.

Unlabelled: Camino Verde (the Green Way) is an evidence-based community mobilisation tool for prevention of dengue and other mosquito-borne viral diseases. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in a cluster-randomised controlled trial conducted in 2010-2013 in Nicaragua and Mexico. The Nicaraguan arm of the trial was preceded, from 2004 to 2008, by a feasibility study that provided valuable lessons and trained facilitators for the trial itself.

When communities are really in control: ethical issues surrounding community mobilisation for dengue prevention in Mexico and Nicaragua.

Unlabelled: We discuss two ethical issues raised by Camino Verde, a 2011-2012 cluster-randomised controlled trial in Mexico and Nicaragua, that reduced dengue risk though community mobilisation. The issues arise from the approach adopted by the intervention, one called Socialisation of Evidence for Participatory Action. Community volunteer teams informed householders of evidence about dengue, its costs and the life-cycle of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, while showing them the mosquito larvae in their own water receptacles, without prescribing solutions.

Community cost-benefit discussions that launched the Camino Verde intervention in Nicaragua.

Background: Recent literature on community intervention research stresses system change as a condition for durable impact. This involves highly participatory social processes leading to behavioural change.

Methods: Before launching the intervention in the Nicaraguan arm of Camino Verde, a cluster-randomised controlled trial to show that pesticide-free community mobilisation adds effectiveness to conventional dengue controls, we held structured discussions with leaders of intervention communities on costs of dengue illness and dengue control measures taken by both government and households.

Evidence based community mobilization for dengue prevention in Nicaragua and Mexico (Camino Verde, the Green Way): cluster randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To test whether community mobilization adds effectiveness to conventional dengue control.

Design: Pragmatic open label parallel group cluster randomized controlled trial. Those assessing the outcomes and analyzing the data were blinded to group assignment.