{"id":1846,"date":"2016-07-11T07:57:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T14:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/?p=1846"},"modified":"2016-07-01T12:58:31","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T19:58:31","slug":"more-on-mosquitoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/?p=1846","title":{"rendered":"More on Mosquitoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

My last blog was about the life of a mosquito and Zika concerns.\u00a0 Now how to avoid mosquito bites<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told many remarkable things about those lawless insects. Among others, said he had seen them try to vote.\u201d \u2013 Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi<\/p>\n

According to the Travel site of the CDC here is some advice.<\/p>\n

General avoidance and protection.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t go there.\u00a0 No really, don\u2019t go there.\u00a0 \u2013 avoid travel to outbreak areas.\u00a0 The CDC traveler\u2019s website has information<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0An unfortunate intersection for the Brazil Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

Avoid peak traffic hours \u2013 some mosquitos are dawn and dusk feeders, crepuscular.\u00a0 But others, including the concerning Aedes albopictus<\/em> (Asian tiger mosquito), a possible vector for Zika is a daytime feeder.<\/p>\n

Protective clothing \u2013 obvious enough.\u00a0 There are also available topically applied clothing (tent, shoes, camping gear) repellants and manufacturer infused insect repellant clothing.\u00a0 These repellants contain permethrin and the manufacturer infused brands can remain active through several washings.\u00a0\u00a0 The topical permethrins have shorter activity.<\/p>\n

Spatial protection<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spatial repellants and insecticides have been available and new products are available.\u00a0 Spatial preventive measures intercept mosquitos prior to human approach.\u00a0 Closing the doors and windows are an example as are mosquito netting in malarial environs.\u00a0 Fans discourage the weak flying mosquito and disperse the chemical into which they home.<\/p>\n

Spatial repellants and insecticides have been available and new products are available.\u00a0 Devices that envelop an area or individual in repellent clouds.\u00a0 Big clouds, small clouds, walking, wind, bug density \u2026\u00a0 These include coils, candles, foggers and personal devices that vaporize repellants such as metofluthrin.\u00a0 These devices have not been fully reviewed but under the right conditions likely are helpful.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Topical Repellants<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am rather like a mosquito in a nudist camp; I know what I ought to do, but I don\u2019t know where to begin.\u201d \u2013 Stephen Bayne<\/p>\n

These are the familiar agents.\u00a0 Off, Cutter, Sawyer, Ultrathon, Skin So Soft, and the like.\u00a0 Protection time varies by agent, form, ambient temperature, activity level, exposure to sweat and water and abrasion.<\/p>\n

The best known repellant is DEET (N,N-diethy-m-tolua-mide).\u00a0 The CDC recommends using products with ><\/u> 20% DEET, with effectives that plateaus at about 50%.\u00a0 Micronized formulations may last longer.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 On the mosquito Aedes aegypti<\/em>,<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

The CDC recommendations for repellants<\/p>\n