The Kiss of Death

optimal population size that a particular environment can support). Urban centers, Stratum A, have the lowest infestation rate (10.81 percent), accumulation index (7.6), and density index (0.8). These lower figures are also attributable to the fact that investigators disproportionately studied category x housing (1,045 houses), compared to category y (129 houses) and category z (219 houses) found within urban centers. A counter objection, however, is that urban centers have fewer houses in category y and z; however, this is unlikely in Bolivia with its massive urban migration and its accompanying poverty. Peri-urban areas of Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and La Paz (El Alto) indicate rising rates of vinchuca infestation and Chagas’ disease.

Table 1

INDEX OF COMMUNITY AND HOUSE INFESTATION IN BOLIVIA

(adapted from Valencia 1990a:36)

-	STRATA
	TOTAL	A	B1	B2	C
TYPE OF HOUSING	3,286	1,393	358	309	1,226
Category x	1,454	1,045	139	58	212
Category y	638	129	84	82	343
Category z	1,194	219	135	169	671
Infested Houses	930	150	99	138	542
Entomology Indices:
Infestation (percent)	28.3	10.81	27.71	45.51	45.41
Density (number)	3.4	0.8	2.5	5.2	5.4
Accumulation (”)	9.97	7.6	9.0	11.4	11.9

Within Stratum B¹, communities from 1,000 to 4,999 inhabitants, the infestation rate was 27.71 percent, which was close to the national average. These communities are market, provincial, and regional centers scattered throughout the plains, valleys, and mountains of Bolivia. Some communities have pre-Columbian origins, while others were founded during the colonial period as reducciones and pueblos to administer the colonies. Spanish conquistadores attempted to control Andeans by clustering them into religious indoctrination centers (reducciones) and municipal centers (pueblos). These houses are constructed of adobe, with thatched roofs and dirt or brick floors, and many stand as architectural monuments to another generation. They have become centers for triatomines. Rarely does one find that the vecinos (villagers from