Incorporating an intersectional gender approach to improve access to maternal and child health screening services.

Background: In the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has promoted initiatives that aim at the elimination of mother-to-child transmitted diseases for over two decades. Although Guatemala has assumed the commitment to improve access and coverage of reproductive and perinatal services, the goals have not yet been reached. Often, the implementation of these efforts is hampered by complexities rooted in social, cultural, and environmental intersections.

Evaluation of the durability of long-lasting insecticidal nets in Guatemala.

Background: Insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) are widely used for the prevention and control of malaria. In Guatemala, since 2006, ITNs have been distributed free of charge in the highest risk malaria-endemic areas and constitute one of the primary vector control measures in the country. Despite relying on ITNs for almost 15 years, there is a lack of data to inform the timely replacement of ITNs whose effectiveness becomes diminished by routine use.

Associations between household environmental factors and immature mosquito abundance in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

Background: Aedes aegypti-borne diseases are becoming major public health problems in tropical and sub-tropical regions. While socioeconomic status has been associated with larval mosquito abundance, the drivers or possible factors mediating this association, such as environmental factors, are yet to be identified. We examined possible associations between proximity to houses and roads and immature mosquito abundance, and assessed whether these factors and mosquito prevention measures mediated any association between household environmental factors and immature mosquito abundance.

Towards Chagas disease elimination: Neonatal screening for congenital transmission in rural communities.

Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease that continues to affect populations living in extreme poverty in Latin America. After successful vector control programs, congenital transmission remains as a challenge to disease elimination. We used the PRECEDE-PROCEED planning model to develop strategies for neonatal screening of congenital Chagas disease in rural communities of Guatemala.

Optimization of mosquito egg production under mass rearing setting: effects of cage volume, blood meal source and adult population density for the malaria vector, Anopheles arabiensis.

Background: Anopheles arabiensis is one of the major malaria vectors that put millions of people in endemic countries at risk. Mass-rearing of this mosquito is crucial for strategies that use sterile insect technique to suppress vector populations. The sterile insect technique (SIT) package for this mosquito species is being developed by the Insect Pest Control Subprogramme of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.