Essential oils for the control of reduviid insects

Abstract

Chagas disease is an important vector-borne disease problem in South America, especially in rural areas where inhabitants are in contact with the reduviid insects that transmit the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Today, the main means of interrupting transmission of T. cruzi is to control the vector. Therefore, studies of new agents with activity against these vectors have a priority interest. This review covers recent studies on essential oils from plants that have demonstrated moderate to high activity against the main vectors of Chagas disease. Further, we investigate the constituents of essential oils of plants of the genera Mentha, Thymus, Satureja and Artemisia and their activity on Rhodnius prolixus using an excito-repellency test.