We take a look at the most effective methods to stop mosquito bites and the way small steps could make an enormous distinction throughout mosquito season.
ADRIAN MA, HOST:
What number of occasions have you ever stepped inside from a stunning summer time day to seek out your self coated in itchy crimson mosquito bites? Yeesh. These bites aren’t simply annoying. In some instances, they’ll even result in severe or lethal sickness. In line with a NASA report on mosquito-borne ailments, the U.S. has seen almost 1,500 instances of dengue fever this 12 months, and there have been about the identical variety of instances of West Nile virus final 12 months. So it’s price figuring out the most effective methods to guard ourselves from mosquito bites, and for some assistance on that, we flip to Andee Tagle, a reporter for the NPR podcast Life Equipment.
ANDEE TAGLE, BYLINE: Hey, Adrian.
MA: So at any time when I am at, like, a yard gathering or barbecue, I see all these completely different sort of anti-mosquito implements. You bought the citronella candles and the DEET sprays and the sprays with out DEET after which you might have little stickers. There’s so many of those sort of anti-mosquito units on the market. How do you choose the fitting one?
TAGLE: They’re countless, Adrian. I am proper there with you. And, you understand, I used to be determined for this reply as a result of I’m a brilliant mosquito bite-prone particular person, and sure, that may be a actual factor. They wish to chunk some individuals greater than others.
MA: (Laughter).
TAGLE: So I talked to Brian Byrd about this. He is a medical entomologist and professor of environmental well being at Western Carolina College, and he says, mosquito repellent is essential, however not all merchandise are created equal.
BRIAN BYRD: From a public well being perspective, we wish sturdy knowledge supporting what we will suggest. So there are many over-the-counter or type of homeopathic or pure cures that you will discover. But when they don’t seem to be evidence-based, we don’t suggest them.
TAGLE: So Byrd would not use any important oils, sound bands, patches, venom suckers. When he is within the discipline, he makes use of mosquito repellent with DEET. However extra on that in a second as a result of Byrd recommends a three-pronged method to mosquito safety.
MA: OK. I like a simple-to-remember, three-pronged rule. Let’s hear it.
TAGLE: The three Ds of primary mosquito safety he says everybody ought to attempt to observe – drain, gown and defend. The primary one, drain, is about stopping mosquito populations earlier than they begin. I, for one, was actually shocked to study simply how little water mosquitoes require with a view to breed.
BYRD: Even a small type of espresso cup that is a 3rd of the best way full in your yard can produce a variety of mosquitoes. You’ll be able to go from eggs to adults, definitely inside per week to 10 days. And so it would not take lengthy, and it would not take a lot.
TAGLE: You need to look out for issues like outdated tires, buckets, planters and flower pots, youngsters’ toys, even holes in bushes or cracks in your pavement. Byrd suggests inspecting issues like these in your yard, in your porch, any outside dwelling space, and clearing out any standing water about as soon as per week.
MA: OK. So the subsequent D is gown, proper?
TAGLE: Proper. And gown refers to carrying protecting clothes, so unfastened becoming shirts and pants that cowl your pores and skin as a lot as potential. And simply observe, some mosquito species can chunk by way of skinny materials. Additionally there was a research a number of years in the past that mosquitoes are extra interested in sure colours, like crimson and orange, presumably as a result of they resemble the warmth signature of human pores and skin. They’re much less interested in inexperienced, purple, blue and white.
MA: So attention-grabbing. OK. The final D, defend – I am guessing this brings us again to DEET bug spray?
TAGLE: Precisely. So DEET has been deemed protected and efficient for shoppers and the setting by the EPA when used appropriately. And a decrease focus, say, 10- to twenty%, ought to cowl you for a number of hours of summertime enjoyable. Larger concentrations of DEET imply longer protection, no more effectiveness.
Byrd says it is vital to completely cowl your uncovered pores and skin and clothes in a good layer, so you do not need to simply spritz it on like a cologne. So that you need to spray evenly in every single place however your face. There, you need to rub the spray in along with your fingers as an alternative.
MA: Thanks a lot. That’s Andee Tagle from NPR’s Life Equipment podcast.
TAGLE: Thanks for having me.
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