It’s mosquito season again here in St. Louis and judging by the wet weather that we’ve had, it’s probably going to be a bad one. I can look out into my back yard and see four different places that fill with water when it rains. Stagnant pools of water are ideal breeding places for mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are prime carriers of disease all over the world. Even with all of the advances in medical care, Malaria is still a huge worldwide problem. It kills over a million people a year. And here in the Midwest we have the West Nile virus. According to Wikipedia: “it (the virus) is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but it is also known to infect humans.”
In birds, most of the West Nile virus infections are fatal. Because of this, an outbreak of West Nile in St. Louis a few years back wiped out most of the bird population. It became eerily silent outside when I woke up every morning. Crows, Bluebirds and Sparrows have made somewhat of a comeback, but the passenger pigeon is pretty much extinct here.
Most of the cases of West Nile infections in humans occur without any symptoms, but in infants, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, the disease can be serious or even fatal.
So why are some people more likely to be bitten by mosquitoes than others? Genetics may play a role as well as blood types. People like me who have blood type O seem to be bitten more than people with other blood types. Pregnant woman get bitten more than non-pregnant women. If your cholesterol is high that seems to attract them more for some reason.
Giving yourself a good dousing with a mosquito repellent that contains DEET will keep the mosquitoes away when you go outside this summer. But using DEET has some risks. It is a powerful chemical that has been shown to potentially cause cancer in some animals.
So how can you protect yourself against mosquito bites naturally this summer? According to WebMD, here are a few natural remedies that people say will protect you against mosquito bites this summer:
A lot of people say that Skin-So-Soft lotion will protect you against mosquito bites, but this has been proven to be worthless advice. It doesn’t. Vitamin B1 has been said to keep the little critters off of you, but that really doesn’t work either. Rubbing a cut onion or vanilla on your skin is said to work. I don’t know about the cut onion, but it will sure keep the people away from you.
A couple of things that will attract mosquitoes to you are dark clothing and perfumes and aftershave. Wear light clothing and stay inside when the mosquitoes are most active: early evening and early morning.
Other suggested repellents include: peppermint oil, tea oil, pennyroyal oil, red ceder wood oil, and eucalyptus oil. Vick’s Vapo Rub has been suggested as a mosquito repellent. I don’t know if it works, but it will certainly keep your sinuses open.
If any of these home remedies work for you then use them. If not, then I guess you will have to balance the risks of DEET with the risks of getting a disease from a mosquito bite.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Nile_virus
http://blogs.webmd.com/all-ears/2011/06/home-remedies-for-insect-bite-prevention.html
