CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Triatomines are blood-sucking bugs thatoccur mainly in Latin America. They are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.Chemical control of Chagas disease´s vectors by using pyrethroid insecticideshas been highly successful for the elimination of domestic infestation andconsequently the reduction of the vector transmission. However, at thebeginning of the 2000s a decrease in the effectiveness of the chemical controlof triatomines was detected in several areas from Argentina and Bolivia,particularly in the Gran Chaco eco-region. During the last 15 years, several studiesdemonstrated the evolution of insecticide resistance in Triatoma infestans and established the presence of differenttoxicological profiles, the autosomal inherence of resistance, the biologicalcosts of deltamethrin resistance, the expression of deltamethrin resistancethorough the embryonic development, and the main mechanisms of resistance(target-site insensitivity and metabolic detoxification of insecticides).The emergence of pyrethroid resistancecoupled with the usual difficulties in sustaining adequate rates of insecticideapplications emphasize the need of incorporating other tools for integratedvector and disease control, such as the proposal of the organo-phosphorusinsecticide fenitrothion as an alternative chemical strategy for the managementof the resistance because it was effective against pyrethroid-resistantpopulations in laboratory and semi-field trials. New studies on the current situation ofpresence and spread of resistant populations of triatomines and the acceptanceof the use of alternative insecticides are critical requirements in theimplementation of strategies for the management of resistance and for therational design of campaigns oriented to reducing the vector transmission ofChagas? disease.