title: La Untadita: a procedure for maintaining washbasins and drums free of Aedes aegypti based on modification of existing practices.
abstract: Chlorine bleach and detergent are routinely used by householders in El Progreso, Honduras in the process of cleaning washbasins and drums, the two most important larval habitats of Aedes aegypti in the city. The efficacy of these materials in eliminating eggs, larvae, and pupae of Ae. aegypti was assessed under controlled conditions. The promising results obtained led to trials using a combination of chlorine bleach and detergent to apply to the walls of washbasins and drums as a method for eliminating eggs. The bleach maintained its ovicidal properties when mixed with detergent, and the detergent gave the mixture consistency so that it could be applied as a thin film to the walls. This new procedure was named the little dab (Untadita in Spanish) and allows households to direct their efforts against a stage of the mosquito life cycle that has been ignored in the past: the egg.
authors.affiliation: Division de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vectores, Ministerio de Salud Publica, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lozano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leontsini
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Winch
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes; D000818:Animals; D003902:Detergents; D004202:Disinfectants; D006721:Honduras; D007300:Insect Control / Q000379:methods*; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007814:Larva; D010063:Ovum; D011679:Pupa; D012973:Sodium Hypochlorite; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D003902:Detergents; D004202:Disinfectants; D012973:Sodium Hypochlorite