My last blog was about the life of a mosquito and Zika concerns. Now how to avoid mosquito bites
“He told many remarkable things about those lawless insects. Among others, said he had seen them try to vote.” – Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
According to the Travel site of the CDC here is some advice.
General avoidance and protection.
Don’t go there. No really, don’t go there. – avoid travel to outbreak areas. The CDC traveler’s website has information. An unfortunate intersection for the Brazil Summer Olympics.
Avoid peak traffic hours – some mosquitos are dawn and dusk feeders, crepuscular. But others, including the concerning Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito), a possible vector for Zika is a daytime feeder.
Protective clothing – obvious enough. There are also available topically applied clothing (tent, shoes, camping gear) repellants and manufacturer infused insect repellant clothing. These repellants contain permethrin and the manufacturer infused brands can remain active through several washings. The topical permethrins have shorter activity.
Spatial protection
Spatial repellants and insecticides have been available and new products are available. Spatial preventive measures intercept mosquitos prior to human approach. Closing the doors and windows are an example as are mosquito netting in malarial environs. Fans discourage the weak flying mosquito and disperse the chemical into which they home.
Spatial repellants and insecticides have been available and new products are available. Devices that envelop an area or individual in repellent clouds. Big clouds, small clouds, walking, wind, bug density … These include coils, candles, foggers and personal devices that vaporize repellants such as metofluthrin. These devices have not been fully reviewed but under the right conditions likely are helpful.
There are also electronic insect repellent devices which produce sounds that were developed to keep away mosquitos. No EPA or other scientific research has ever sought evidence that these are effective.
Topical Repellants
“I am rather like a mosquito in a nudist camp; I know what I ought to do, but I don’t know where to begin.” – Stephen Bayne
These are the familiar agents. Off, Cutter, Sawyer, Ultrathon, Skin So Soft, and the like. Protection time varies by agent, form, ambient temperature, activity level, exposure to sweat and water and abrasion.
The best known repellant is DEET (N,N-diethy-m-tolua-mide). The CDC recommends using products with > 20% DEET, with effectives that plateaus at about 50%. Micronized formulations may last longer. Other products registered with the EPA include those is picaridin, IR3535 and some oil of lemon eucalyptus (formulated as a repellant) and para-methane-diol (artificial OLE) products. Researchers at New Mexico State University tested ten commercially available products for their effectiveness at repelling mosquitoes. On the mosquito Aedes aegypti, the vector of Zika virus, only one repellent that did not contain DEET had a strong effect for the duration of the 240 minutes test: a lemon eucalyptus oil repellent. All DEET-containing mosquito repellents were active.
The CDC recommendations for repellants
- Apply only to exposed skin and clothing (not under clothing)
- Never to open, irritated skin
- Never to eyes, mouth and sparingly to the ears (for the face apply to hands then transfer to face). The same transfer to apply to kid
- Have kids wash their hands afterwards
- Just enough to cover –thick application does not last longer
- Wash when protection is no longer needed or in case of an allergic reaction
EPA registered products can be used by kids and pregnant or nursing women according to labelling. DEET should not be used in children under 2 months of age and OLE products on kids less than 3 years old.
You can use both sunscreen (first applied) and repellant at the same time although the reapplication times may make this tricky and the same applies to combination products where the sunscreen may wear off first.
Ironically, the high pitched whine of the mosquito (The Mosquito) has been used as deterrent to human loitering and in high crime areas. High pitched emissions target a younger, and presumably more delinquent, group with more acute hearing. The Council of Europe considers the device degrading and discriminatory to youngsters and has targeted the U.K. having more that 3,500 such devices in the country. So that’s why the Brexit!
“Even a mosquito doesn’t get a slap on the back until it starts to work.”