Mosquito Bite

Dengue Fever in Thailand

This year, dengue fever is a big problem in Thailand. Although you shouldn't worry about it too much, you should definitely take some precautions when outdoors.

Mosquitoes find their victims by smell. Their senses are trained to hone in on carbon dioxide and lactic acid because these chemicals are emitted by warm-blooded animals, like us. 

Chemical repellents are great at repelling mosquitoes because DEET masks the smell of carbon dioxide and lactic acid. When you wear DEET, mosquitoes cannot smell you and tend to leave you alone.

Why Do Mosquitoes Like Some People More than Others?

You may have noticed that mosquitoes are more attracted to some people than others. This is because of smell and has nothing to do with blood-types.

Each person has a distinctive smell. There are about 400 compounds that make up the human scent and of those, about 30 have a masking effect. If any of these 30 compounds are more prominent in someone, it tends to make them less visible to mosquitoes. Of course, where there is one extreme, there is always another which means that some people are mosquito magnets.

Will Garlic Help to Keep Mosquitoes Away?

Eating garlic offers mild protection from mosquitoes, both from the odor on your breath as well as sulfur compounds that you emit through your skin.

The smell of garlic is known to repel mosquitoes. For example, you can buy garlic sprays to put on your garden if you don’t mind the yard smelling like an Italian restaurant. Smearing your body with garlic-scented lotion is apparently effective as well, although it will probably repel more than just mosquitoes. Eating garlic may also give you some mild protection, both from the odor on your breath as well as sulfur compounds that you emit through your skin when you eat garlic.

In the end, though, scientists estimate that genetics account for about 85% of our attractiveness to mosquitoes, so we mosquito magnets may have to reconcile ourselves to our fate.

Another way to be less visible or less attractive to mosquitoes is not to exert yourself too much when mosquitoes are around. When you exercise, you give off more lactic acid and more carbon dioxide, which brings them running (well, flying). This will be the one and only time when I’ll be advising you to be more sedentary, so make the most of it!

Foods which Help You to Avoid Mosquito Bites ? 

Eating certain foods, especially foods that are salty or high in potassium, will increase the amount of lactic acid that you give off. We all know which foods are salty. As for potassium, the richest dietary sources are fruits and vegetables and I don’t think I can quite bring myself to recommend that you eat fewer fruits and vegetables—not even to save you from the mosquitoes. The farthest I’m willing to go is to suggest that you select blueberries, apples, watermelon, cucumbers, cabbage, and green peppers, which are relatively low in potassium, instead of potatoes, prunes, raisins, spinach, bananas, lima beans, and acorn squash, all of which are particularly high in potassium.

Other Ways to Avoid Mosquito Bites

You can also do yourself a favor by wearing light-colored clothing. But if all this, plus a string of garlic around your neck and natural repellent sprays, isn't keeping them away, it’s time to bring out the big guns. Although you don’t want to be exposed to DEET any more than necessary, the dangers of mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever are even more of a concern. 

To limit your exposure to DEET, wear long sleeves or pants to cover up as much of your skin as possible. Then, spray a DEET-based repellant on your clothing as well as on any exposed skin.  Finally, remember to wash the repellent off your skin as soon as you come inside and toss the clothes in the laundry!

Comments

Do mosquitoes bite you more than others or are you one of the lucky ones? Do you have any home remedies to share or anything else to add? Hit comment to leave your responses. Thanks for your time.