VECTOS: An Integrated System for Monitoring Risk Factors Associated With Urban Arbovirus Transmission.

In Colombia, as in many Latin American countries, decision making and development of effective strategies for vector control of urban diseases such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya is challenging for local health authorities. The heterogeneity of transmission in urban areas requires an efficient risk-based allocation of resources to control measures. With the objective of strengthening the capacity of local surveillance systems to identify variables that favor urban arboviral transmission, a multidisciplinary research team collaborated with the local Secretary of Health officials of 3 municipalities in Colombia (Giron, Yopal, and Buga), in the design of an integrated information system called VECTOS from 2015 to 2018.

Reduction in dengue cases observed during mass control of Aedes (Stegomyia) in street catch basins in an endemic urban area in Colombia.

Dengue incidence continues to increase globally and, in the absence of an efficacious vaccine, prevention strategies are limited to vector control. It has been suggested that targeting the most productive breeding sites instead of all water-holding containers could be a cost-effective vector control strategy. We sought to identify and continuously control the most productive Aedes (Stegomyia) breeding site in an endemic urban area in Colombia and followed the subsequent incidence of dengue.

Comparison of the efficacy of long-lasting insecticidal nets PermaNet® 2.0 and Olyset® against Anopheles albimanus under laboratory conditions.

Insecticide-treated nets provide a reduction in human-vector contact through physical barrier, mortality and/or repellent effects that protect both users and non-users, thereby protecting the wider community from vector-borne diseases like malaria. Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) are the best alternative. This study evaluated the bioefficacy of LLINs PermaNet® 2.

Insecticide resistance status of Aedes aegypti in 10 localities in Colombia.

Insecticide resistance is one of the major threats to the effectiveness of vector control programs. In order to establish a baseline susceptibility profile of Aedes aegypti in the southwest of Colombia, 10 localities in four Departments (States) were evaluated. Standardized WHO bioassay, CDC bottle bioassay and microplate biochemical assays of non-specific β-esterase (NSE), mixed function oxidases (MFO) and acetylcholinesterase were used.