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Mosquitos - which vitamin?

Mosquitos - which vitamin?

Old Jul 3rd 2003, 9:19 am
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Totally agree with TimEh post

I am a Practice Nurse in a large surgery ( 15,000 patients)and run a Travel Clinic, giving patients advice on all aspects of Travel and Travel Health from Vaccinations to Malaria Prophylaxis and precautions. Forget all the old wifes tales you have to look at all the research based evidence facts.
MALARIA PRECAUTIONS
dusk to dawn more chance of bites
products containing DEET
perfumes and aftershaves attract the little buggers
cover arms and legs with loose clothing
use airconditioning find it difficult to fly
burn coils or vapour pads indoors
use high frequency plug in devices
buy over the counter bite creams to stop you itching and antihistamine tablets to help reduce the swelling of bites, seek advice if they become infected

Remember guys to have a chat with your Practice nurse and make sure that all members of the family are upto date with all immunisations ie Tetanus now given as a combined Diptheria and Tetanus injection, if you are stopping off at any other countries on the way you may need other vaccinations ie Hep A Typhoid and Polio, check as these are FREE,
If anyone would like further advice or any websites on guidlines for UK travellers re Malaria and Travel let me know

Last edited by scoobydooathome; Jul 4th 2003 at 5:05 pm.
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Old Jul 3rd 2003, 2:12 pm
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Originally posted by sue5665
Hi,
Been here 4 months and our eldest son (11) is covered in Mossie bites they come out in big blisters which he scratches and picks leaving very large scars, he now refuses to go out after school, our youngest (10) is hardly ever bitten.
We have tried nearly everything from the chemist.
What I would like to know is can mossie bites be dangerous?. He came home from school yesterday and was told by his friend that his gran was told by her doctor to go back to the Uk because she had the same reaction as my son to the bites, so he now will not wear shorts, we have to spray thr whole house before he goes to bed, just incase one has got in during the day.
Please help

Sue
Sue,

During my first year abroad, the mossies caused big welts for every bite, but that was just for that first year; after that, I was not bothered nearly as much by any reaction to the bites. So perhaps your son needs to develop a bit of a tolerance.

The welts are caused due to the female mosquito injecting saliva into the bite to keep blood from clotting. This makes it easier for her to suck up the blood. The cells of the immune system rush to the site of the bite and try to get rid of the saliva. As a result, there is swelling and itching, hence an allergic reaction. Some people tend to welt up more than others because they are more allergic to the mosquito's saliva.

Bites in themselves are not dangerous but of course mossies can carry diseases. Not sure about Australia, but we are facing West Nile Fever here which is getting closer to our area every year.

It's a shame that your son cannot enjoy the great outdoors which, after all, is one of the reasons we emigrate. Have you not tried a maximum strength DEET product? You must have some unusually aggressive mossies if one of those products will not protect him.

We used max-strength DEET up in the wilderness in Northern Alberta where the mossies came in clouds. It kept them away (although still hovering really close by).

Re scoobydoo's post: Good advice.

Breathing also attracts them (it's the carbon dioxide).

Last edited by TimEh?; Jul 3rd 2003 at 2:20 pm.
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Old Jul 7th 2003, 11:24 pm
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When outside at dusk use citronella candles and mosquito coils which you can buy at the supermarkets along with citronella oil for oil lamps. I don't know why by new immigrants always get a hard time from the mozzies. USe repellant if you like but you need to check your legs often. The wrong repellant will be useless and you will look down to see 20 mozzies feeding off you. BTW - the blood suckers are always female ;-)
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Old Jul 8th 2003, 1:56 am
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Originally posted by kaleb777
When outside at dusk use citronella candles and mosquito coils which you can buy at the supermarkets along with citronella oil for oil lamps. I don't know why by new immigrants always get a hard time from the mozzies. USe repellant if you like but you need to check your legs often. The wrong repellant will be useless and you will look down to see 20 mozzies feeding off you. BTW - the blood suckers are always female ;-)
Coils and such are useless in really heavily infested areas - try going to places like coochin creek - that's one of these places which is really heavily infested (creeks lined by bush etc) etc at dusk/night in the summer months, they come down in swarms, no immigrant, Australian or any person can sit there without being attacked. When I mean heavily infested , I'm not kidding - they are in huge numbers - you can hear them descending from the trees at dusk - the noise... there's that many of them, thousand upon thousand
. Most people fishing etc will go from the area at dusk as it's impossible to not get bitten a hundred times. The only thing that really works is a repellent called "Bushmans" - it's one of the strongest repellents in Aus designed for outdoor folks - hence the name, you can pick it up in chemists and camping shops. It contains Deet. The only prob with it -it melts some plastics - ie watch bands/plastic watch faces and even trim in your car (as I found out!) - so watch out where you put your skin when covered in this stuff.

If it's just for use in your garden etc- no worries , the lesser remedies such as coils will keep them away to a point.

It all depends where you go, for people who want it just for sitting in their gardens etc, ok fair enough - but for really heavily infested areas near certain creeks and out in the bush at night, the lesser remedies are hopeless- they do not work.
I beg anyone to sit at coochin creek next summer around dusk/night armed with only a coil etc - good luck to you- you'll need it.

Cheers

Last edited by Ceri; Jul 8th 2003 at 1:59 am.
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Old Jul 8th 2003, 12:17 pm
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Originally posted by Ceri

I beg anyone to sit at coochin creek next summer around dusk/night armed with only a coil etc - good luck to you- you'll need it.

Cheers
I can imagine the boat adrift now....with a dessicated empty sack of skin and bones lying in the bottom, covered in puncture marks from the parasites !

Ceri....have you ever tried any kind of mozzie net or anything, for your head when fishing in places like this? Or do you just stick with the Bushmans repellant?
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Old Jul 8th 2003, 12:27 pm
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Originally posted by keith (UK)
Hi all,

Here is my two pence worth.

There is anecdotal evidence that daily doses of the B group vitamins help reduce mosquito bites, but this has not been conclusively proven by the experts.

The best way of avoiding bites is to use something containing a large concentration of DEET (aka Diethyltoluamide). I think the maximum you can buy is around 40%. It does smell horrid, and can irritate your skin, so test it on a small area of skin before you bathe in it!

You only need to apply to exposed areas of the skin, and only really at times when you are likely to be bitten. So, its probably not so important at 2:00 in the afternoon as it is at 6:00 in the evening when the mosquito's are everywhere.

There are other creams that you can use, like those based on tea tree oil, lemon oil, or citronella oil. There might be better for people with sensitive skin, but in my experience, none are effective at those containing DEET.

Good luck!
Keith.
Keith - sounds like you know thine enemy. I wonder if DEET has any adverse affects on you as presumably in a concentration like that some would be absorbed through the skin. Oh yeah - anyone know why mossies bite some people more than others. ie you can be in the same room as someone and they will be totally covered in bites and you will be as smooth as a baby's bottom still.


:scared: Elaine
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Old Jul 8th 2003, 12:38 pm
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Originally posted by grubelice
Keith - sounds like you know thine enemy. I wonder if DEET has any adverse affects on you as presumably in a concentration like that some would be absorbed through the skin. Oh yeah - anyone know why mossies bite some people more than others. ie you can be in the same room as someone and they will be totally covered in bites and you will be as smooth as a baby's bottom still.


:scared: Elaine
Some people are tastier than others ??

I would guess its somthing to do with your physiology...a mozzie detects its dinner using heat, and will generally go for places where it can get a feed easily. Thats why you tend to get bitten in places like your ankles (even if wearing shorts), because the blood is closer to the surface of your skin there. The people who get bitten more, i would have thought, give off a better heat signature.

Just a guess though.....
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Old Jul 9th 2003, 1:43 am
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Originally posted by PeteY
I can imagine the boat adrift now....with a dessicated empty sack of skin and bones lying in the bottom, covered in puncture marks from the parasites !

Ceri....have you ever tried any kind of mozzie net or anything, for your head when fishing in places like this? Or do you just stick with the Bushmans repellant?

I stick with the repellent. It's just not just the head (for this I usually wear a hat .. a wool cap/beanie). I've even get Mozzie bites on my fingers - it's the only exposed part of me which I do not cover with the cream because I'm handling bait - ie puts the fish off (poisons). Anyway, when they are in the thousands/millions - they will bite through lesser repellents. I've even been bitten on the arse through my Jeans.. biggest part of me I suppose .. lol. They will bite through clothing in a heavily infested place - very aggressive

Anyway, all I'm saying ... if you go into a heavily infested area in the night (which probably will not apply to the majority people here unless they like to go bush or fish the creeks at night)- A coil and the lesser creams and sprays do not work at all- they are a total waste of time in certain areas when the mozzies are in their millions. The only thing which will work is a strong repellent contain deet - for this, I have personally found that Bushmans is the best. I do not know if it's safe to use on children etc, but then children probably would not be in the bush/creeks etc at night. It's a bit worrying it melts some plastics though (probably the oil in it) ! I wonder what the hell it's doing to my skin in the long run.

But being a person who does react badly to mozzies if bitten, I come up in red marks which lasts for well over a week - and it's not the new immigrant syndrome - I've been out of the UK for almost 11 years in Mozzie land/places, even when I was in the uk I used to react badly to the midges (you'll probably find for anyone in the uk who reacts badly to the midges there - you are going to react badly to Mozzie bites here - ie bumps/itching lasts for over a week) . I have a severe reaction to the bites. - (hubby gets bitten, itch and bump only lasts an hour if that, jammy sod) . But when the mozzies are in the millions - you need a very strong repellent.
Actually I have found some of the worst places for mozzies are where colonies of bats are - believe it or not. (I'm talking creek/bush land here - not suburbia, another thing ... the more mozzie infested a place will be - the fishing seems to be good - sods law, or Murphy's law... I call it sods law )

cheers

P.S

Disclaimer:

All opinions, advice, statements, views or other information expressed by myself are of my own personal opinion, whether you want to believe them or not is a matter of ones own discretion.
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(just thought I’d stick this on here too – just in case I get accused of advising someone to use a repellent and they still
pick up Ross river fever or something – lol.. some people! )
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Old Jul 9th 2003, 3:58 pm
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I am one of those people that reacts very badly to mossie bites, large lumps, blisters, and intense itching.


Over the years since I started travelling I have found that-

Vit B does not work at all.
The things they sell that make a noise , which is suppose to keep the mossies away , do not work.
Coils work indoors. (the smoke however is very harsh on the throat)

Citronella works to a certain extent.
DEET works better.( I have found Jungle Formalae works best for me) Although I have still got bitten while using it.


I use a net at night.
I have not built up a resistance or immunity! Which is annoying.

There is another product called NEEM OIL, which I have not tried because I cannot get hold of it!
It is suppose to be a natural product from a tree found in the tropice.

If anyone has any info concerning NEEM OIL please make a post.

I have found T tree oil helpful in treating the bites , but does not keeping the buggas away. Well not in my case.
I take garlic regularly for the health benefits. And eat a lot in my diet.However it does not seem to have any effect on the mossies. I still get bitten!

Well thats my two pence worth.
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Old Jul 9th 2003, 4:20 pm
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Originally posted by sue5665
Hi,
Been here 4 months and our eldest son (11) is covered in Mossie bites they come out in big blisters which he scratches and picks leaving very large scars, he now refuses to go out after school, our youngest (10) is hardly ever bitten.
We have tried nearly everything from the chemist.
What I would like to know is can mossie bites be dangerous?. He came home from school yesterday and was told by his friend that his gran was told by her doctor to go back to the Uk because she had the same reaction as my son to the bites, so he now will not wear shorts, we have to spray thr whole house before he goes to bed, just incase one has got in during the day.
Please help

Sue
Sue - please take son to Docs - I too suffer terrible with mossies in Oz each time I go nothing deters them and its undescribable how I feel. Guessing your son feels like this too. Each time I had off to a Doctors and get a course of antibiotics and hey presto once the swelling goes down they stop itching and away they go. My brother also suffers like this (he has lives in Oz for 15 years) and at the begining of each summer he just gets a course of antibiotics - he only then gets 1 large bite the whole summer.
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Old Jul 9th 2003, 4:58 pm
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Originally posted by hilt
Citronella works to a certain extent.
I take garlic regularly for the health benefits. And eat a lot in my diet.However it does not seem to have any effect on the mossies.
"Citronella works to a certain extent."

Trouble is, it doesn't last as long as DEET.

"I take garlic regularly for the health benefits. And eat a lot in my diet. However it does not seem to have any effect on the mossies."

Ah, but it keeps the vampires away................ Not to mention most Englishmen (and women).

I said not to mention it
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Old Jul 9th 2003, 6:34 pm
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Originally posted by MaggieLou
Sue - please take son to Docs - I too suffer terrible with mossies in Oz each time I go nothing deters them and its undescribable how I feel. Guessing your son feels like this too. Each time I had off to a Doctors and get a course of antibiotics and hey presto once the swelling goes down they stop itching and away they go.

My brother also suffers like this (he has lives in Oz for 15 years) and at the begining of each summer he just gets a course of antibiotics - he only then gets 1 large bite the whole summer.
Be careful that you are not inviting a whole new set of health problem by advising the unnecessary use of antibiotics - especially for a child.

After all, 70-80% of prescriptions for antimicrobials [antibiotics] are probably written unnecessarily. A lot of those stem from patient pressure for a quick (or imagined - the placebo effect) fix.

From what I can see, antibiotics are usually only prescribed for secondary infections resulting from mosquito bites. The danger is that unnecessary use can promote the development of resistant infections and get rid of "good" bacteria in the system:

“Use of antibacterials in non-bacterial illness results only in the destruction of susceptible bacteria and selective proliferation of resistant bacteria, thus aiding the propagation of bacterial drug resistance.�

The welts and itching are caused when the cells of the immune system rush to the site of the bite and try to get rid of the histamines in the mosquito saliva. Antibiotics are not going to get rid of the histamines or your bodies own defense mechanism. That's why anti-histamines are used so effectively for itching.

Your brother's experience seems to indicate that you can take antibiotics to ward off mosquito bites. I have a real problem with that advise.

Last edited by TimEh?; Jul 9th 2003 at 6:39 pm.
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Old Jul 9th 2003, 11:59 pm
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Well a few more rumours to throw around - try searching google for Dengue fever though.

Everyone gets bitten - it's just that some people react more badly to the saliva.

The mosquitos that carry Dengue bite during the day and not at night. Malaria is the opposite (but is not endemic to Oz)

It was suggested that giving out DEET impregnated mosquito nets would be the cheapest way of stopping one of the biggest killers in Africa.

Make sure that there is nothing in your garden that can trap water, empty plant pots, cans, etc. They breed in the smallest amount of stagnant water.

Here are some links

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/dengue/

http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/str...ets/dengue.htm

http://www.info.gov.hk/info/dengue/dengue-e.htm and more specifically here;
http://www.info.gov.hk/fehd/safefood...households.pdf
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Old Jul 10th 2003, 2:50 am
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Originally posted by bored_bean
Well a few more rumours to throw around - try searching google for Dengue fever though.
Is Dengue Fever a problem in Australia though?
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Old Jul 10th 2003, 3:17 am
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Originally posted by TimEh?
Is Dengue Fever a problem in Australia though?
Further North it is - but not in great numbers like you get in Asia.

I actually had Dengue fever once - and I can tell you it was not a nice experience! There are different levels/severity of the fever - a bit like Malaria in that respect. when it kills it's normally elderly people - they die from blood clotting.

I had a mild case while I was living in Sing - fever for two weeks - and I was weak for about a month with it - could hardly walk without my legs giving way. One of my friends over there had a worse case than I had - he was hospitalised with it for a couple of weeks

P.s good advice about the standing water in your garden (from Bored Bean)- when I used to live in Sing it was illegal to have standing water in the garden - ie in pots etc - you'd get fined heavily. My friend actually got fined for this - she had an old plastic liner in the garden which had little pools of stagnant water in it - the environmental officers came round the neighbourhood one day , and found this stagnant water - she was fined about a $1000 I think it was at the time.


cheers
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