Fighting Mosquitoes: A Beginner’s Guide

It's said to repel rats!

I think that the herbal angle is pretty well covered, and citronella is the favoured one --- but who knows? Something new may crop up any day, even among well-known plants.

Does that mean beer drinkers are avoided by mossies or the reverse ?

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Nick, I did a review of literature & comments a year or so ago and the support was minimal for citronella as a repellant on the body. The best reviews for a herbal product was Eucalyptus Citrodoria (or as we say here, Lemon Scented Gum).

As for something to fill the air to repel mossies, I haven't looked.

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'Fraid its for the worst possible, an attractant..

Mosquito repellents (lotion type of thing that lasts for 8 hours) and mosquito nets should do the trick!

Travelots...

What is the 'trick' to which you refer?

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Julia

You sound like the typical American.

By that I mean educated more by gossip and governmental promotion of big business than by a reasoned assessment of the facts.

Most cases, you won't need anti-malaria pills. Check where you are heading before you take those. Depending on the drug formula, either the drugs are so powerful in strength that you are placing your body under extreme medically induced stress, or the drugs will have little or no impact. Go ask your GP about not taking anti-malarials and instead taking with you a reserve supply of Malarone - in case you get a dose.

Probiotics are another marketing exercise for fruit-loops. Unless your diet has a high percentage of fast food and reheated frozen food, likely as not you won't get any benefit from probiotics - your body will have all the goodies it needs.

DEET is carcinogenic. The US government supports it because it is made by a US firm. The alternatives are made in the EU, and the US government won't support 'opponents'. If you want to risk cancer, go use it.

Hand sanitiser does not kill the bacteria that may infect your gut. Washing with water (even infected water), drying your hands and wiping with an antiseptic hand-wipe is better advice. Using a clean knife / spoon /fork for food will also minimise orally ingested infections.

My earlier advice has clearly fallen on deaf ears, take reasonable precautions, and RELAX.







Mod note: this post and several following it have been moved here from the 'gastrointestinal infections' thread.

While I agree with much of what BruceMoon says, I think the paragraph quoted is bollocks. Check with your travel doctor, to be sure, to find out where you'll run into malaria. The likelihood is that it will be everywhere you want to go – or you'll have to go through malaria country to get there. If you really truly aren't going to be exposed to malaria, don't take anything. If you are, take Malarone. I cannot imagine what "extreme medically induced stress" is going to arise from Malarone. My wife and I have "stressed ourselves out" with courses of Malarone for some seven six-week trips, with no other apparent effect than that we didn't get malaria. I wonder whether BruceMoon mightn't be so predisposed to disbelieve anything Establishment that he rejects sensible prophylaxis as a big-business conspiracy. And the logic of taking a gamble with anything as nasty as malaria, and then getting around to doing something about it after you've got the disease – that logic utterly escapes me.

I do agree with BrucMoon about probiotics. Seems to me the only time you should need to be concerned with that in India is if you've run a course of antibiotics that's wiped out your intestinal biota. But in that case you should be able to rebuild easily enough starting with yogurt.

hfot2

Malarone as a prophylactic is an example of "placing your body under extreme medically induced stress".

Malarone does NOT, I repeat NOT, prevent malaria. As a prophylactic, at best it helps resistance.

Need more...

Read this...

http://malaria.emedtv.com/malarone/m...ecautions.html

and this...

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa021592

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Malaria is still a major problem for travellers to malaria endemic regions. These are (largely) located in the tropical zone. However, not all travellers to tropical regions will travel to malaria endemic regions. Malaria is prevalent, but not endemic, in India - go look at the map in these articles...

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content...-3305-4-89.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...40673610608318

The simple fact is a large majority of travellers to India will not venture into malaria risk areas. Given this, swallowing drugs that have known adverse side effects and are known NOT to fully prevent malarial infection in the blind hope that it helps is madness.

The sensible approach where exposure is minimal, is to use skin sprays, wear appropriate clothing, and have a pack of Malarone to take if in the unlikely event one does get malaria.

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But, I can write all day and you'd probably stay stuck to your view.

If I could sway your mind, I think I'd rather do it on another approach.

Many of the drugs used in the past for malaria have become ineffective. The reason? People used the drugs as prophylactics and the applicable mosquito developed resistance.

So, for the sake of your fellow traveller, respect the fact that using Malarone as a prophylactic may see the mosquito develop resistance. Then, what will your fellow travellers do?

There are no alternatives on the horizon.





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I believe that USA treats India, in terms of travel warnings, as a country where there is malaria. The UK health authority takes a more granular approach, and divides the country into risk zones. Here's their map



...There is a lot more red on it than when I last looked.
Looks like that isn't true any longer.

Please note that there is some malaria risk everywhere in India (excepting the mountains). There are also at least two diseases for which there is no prophylaxis and no cure, apart from suffering until you get better, that are spread by mosquitoes. I don't believe that a couple of weeks of DEET is worse than dengue or chickungunya.

If it comes down to it I'll take my chances with the DEET for a few weeks.

It doesn't even have to be DEET --- but this is a subject covered in, and more appropriate to, the malaria/mossie threads.

We visited our local NHS clinic last week for travel advice and were told that as of 3rd December the advice on Malaria had changed. As you have pointed out, the new map has a lot more red on it and the advice now is to take Malarone rather than Paludrine/Avloclor.

Ditto.

I'll let someone else doe the writing for me:

The drug combination atovaquone/proguanil (INNs, trade names Malarone, Malanil) is an antimalarial medication used in both the treatment and prevention of malaria... [emphases mine]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atovaquone/proguanil

Keith, I thought you'd be an advocate for the BEST anti mosquito repellant. One that is NOT carcinogenic. And, one made from a plant NATIVE to Western Australia.

May I suggest you go look for repellants containing Eucalyptus Citriodora [ aka Lemon Scented Gum ].



ps. to combat the carcinogenic 'issue' the USFDA has suggested strength be limited to less than 50%. At that 'strength', you will have about a 1 hour 'window' of usefulness.



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I really don't want to get into a he said / she said type discussion, but!!!!!

There is now a great body of evidence to show that the drug companies have captured the first world health 'advice' institutions. I doubt the NHS is unaffected.

For those that travel infrequently, taking the time to investigate the merit of 'health advices' doesn't make sense. For these people, prophylactic 'overkill' doesn't really matter. It's easier to go with the flow than be personally responsible.

That said, ask yourself about malaria and India.

If the supposed (new) red areas were to be true, Indian nationals would be dying in large numbers. One would assume there to be a new pandemic. That they are not dying in the sorts of numbers that would warrant the (new) red areas begs the question of why/how the (new) red areas became so listed.

We in Australia have the mosquito borne disease of Dengue Fever. Our health authorities have mapping that shows where such disease may be encountered. The maps show the whole eastern seaboard tropical and subtropical seaboard and coastal plains. Australians note the topic, but are not alarmed. That said, on your scenario, the US and UK governments could similarly have the mapping presented online with advice to tourists to think twice about visiting Australia as there is no prophylactic for Dengue Fever.

I suggest the same scenario applies to malaria and India. Yes, malaria exists. And, yes, there have been some deaths from malaria in various parts of India (as to whether the infection occurred in the area where the death occurred appears ill understood).

But, before one paints the whole of India as a malaria 'problem' site, one ought also understand the habitat needed for the mosquito that carries malaria. And, also have an understanding of the distribution of the non-human mammals that carry malaria.

The point I make is that malaria is not a major disease in the urban areas on India - where a good many travellers frequent.

So, those adopting the US government ideology of fear-based propaganda WILL believe that malaria is everywhere. But, those that so do would also fail an intelligence test.

That they are willing to put dangerous chemicals into their body as prophylactics for an ill-informed peace of mind, and at the same time increase the potential of a mosquito resistance indicates an irresponsible approach to both social and self preservation.


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