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Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

Holiday Ideas & Foreign Travel
Clariman
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Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158477

Postby Clariman » August 10th, 2018, 11:33 am

We're currently enjoying our European driving tour but it is being marred for me by bites from the Asian Tiger Mosquito which is now widespread here in Italy. I get loads of really nasty bites and local Italian pharmacist seemed quite shocked by the welts they've left on one of my legs.

Anyway my question isn't about Italy. I've never been to Asia or South America - places I'd like to see. How on earth does someone like me (that gets loads of bites and reacts badly to them) deal with visiting more tropical countries with more bugs?

Thanks
Clariman

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158494

Postby ReformedCharacter » August 10th, 2018, 11:56 am

Clariman wrote:We're currently enjoying our European driving tour but it is being marred for me by bites from the Asian Tiger Mosquito which is now widespread here in Italy. I get loads of really nasty bites and local Italian pharmacist seemed quite shocked by the welts they've left on one of my legs.

Anyway my question isn't about Italy. I've never been to Asia or South America - places I'd like to see. How on earth does someone like me (that gets loads of bites and reacts badly to them) deal with visiting more tropical countries with more bugs?

Thanks
Clariman

I lived for a couple of years in a mosquito (and malaria) infested area and the people who suffered most were those who could not resist the urge to itch the bites. I've seen some quite unpleasant wounds caused by this - much worse than the bites would have been if left alone. AFAIK there's no practical way of avoiding getting bitten in the first place although I've read of various 'remedies' such as Citronella which are supposed to discourage insect bites.

RC

PinkDalek
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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158501

Postby PinkDalek » August 10th, 2018, 12:17 pm

Clariman wrote:… How on earth does someone like me (that gets loads of bites and reacts badly to them) deal with visiting more tropical countries with more bugs?

Thanks
Clariman


You might find this topic at DAK of interest:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6978&p=76589&hilit=#top

There's plenty there, including this from DiamondEcho (who later on mentions the Asian Tiger Mosquito in passing):

viewtopic.php?p=76589#p76589

GoSeigen
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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158520

Postby GoSeigen » August 10th, 2018, 12:37 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:
Clariman wrote:We're currently enjoying our European driving tour but it is being marred for me by bites from the Asian Tiger Mosquito which is now widespread here in Italy. I get loads of really nasty bites and local Italian pharmacist seemed quite shocked by the welts they've left on one of my legs.

Anyway my question isn't about Italy. I've never been to Asia or South America - places I'd like to see. How on earth does someone like me (that gets loads of bites and reacts badly to them) deal with visiting more tropical countries with more bugs?

Thanks
Clariman

I lived for a couple of years in a mosquito (and malaria) infested area and the people who suffered most were those who could not resist the urge to itch the bites. I've seen some quite unpleasant wounds caused by this - much worse than the bites would have been if left alone. AFAIK there's no practical way of avoiding getting bitten in the first place although I've read of various 'remedies' such as Citronella which are supposed to discourage insect bites.

RC


We travelled around a variety of tropical regions last year and found insect repellent to be fairly effective. Another very effective technique is to stay inside towards dusk when the mosquitoes are most active or at least cover up with long sleeves/trousers/shoes and apply repellent.


Countries where mosquitoes are a perennial problem tend to use mosquito nets, which do help a lot. I'm not so sure about those coils that you burn but many people seem to like them.


GS

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158527

Postby swill453 » August 10th, 2018, 1:15 pm

I used to get fairly severe reactions from insect bites abroad but now have started to take one-a-day anti-allergy pills starting a few days before a trip and continuing till a few days after I come home.

These are antihistamines, available over the counter at the pharmacist, fairly cheaply. About £2 for a month's supply. I go for one with Loratadine, but other formulations are available.

They don't make you drowsy, and you can still drink alcohol and drive (not at the same time of course :)

I still get bitten loads, but the bites definitely don't swell up as much as they used to.

Scott.

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158530

Postby tea42 » August 10th, 2018, 1:45 pm

Deet, plaster yourself with this stuff available in various strengths and the mossies will avoid you (so will the Mrs probably :lol: )

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158594

Postby ReformedCharacter » August 10th, 2018, 4:50 pm

GoSeigen wrote:
Countries where mosquitoes are a perennial problem tend to use mosquito nets, which do help a lot. I'm not so sure about those coils that you burn but many people seem to like them.

GS

Mosquito nets are absolutely necessary in some places. I never got bitten sleeping under one. I think the suggestion of antihistamines and hydrocortisone cream are good if only to stop the itching.

I have a book somewhere which has a blood stain on the inside of the back cover. I closed it quickly enough to kill an female Anopheles mosquito which had just had a blood meal. A small act of revenge for various episodes of malaria.

RC

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158612

Postby stevensfo » August 10th, 2018, 6:46 pm

We're currently enjoying our European driving tour but it is being marred for me by bites from the Asian Tiger Mosquito which is now widespread here in Italy. I get loads of really nasty bites and local Italian pharmacist seemed quite shocked by the welts they've left on one of my legs.


The Tiger mosquito spread here about 10 years ago. In the north, we don't get too many, but they're a real pain since they bite even in sunlight.

Coming from the UK, you have the advantage of being able to buy 50% DEET, whereas in Italy, the max allowed is 20%. Nevertheless, even 20% works well. Always stock up it in the UK since everything remotely 'pharmaceutical' costs far more in Italy. Spray whichever parts usually get bitten. With me, it's ankles and back of hands.

The advice about not scratching is spot on. Difficult and requires strong will-power, but the itching will go away much faster. Also, anti-histamines will help.

Yes, I know about the reactions of pharmacists. I have a young nephew who arrives every year with his pure white pasty skin, unseen by sun for 12 months and wonders why the red bites are so vivid! :-)

Steve

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158695

Postby Clariman » August 11th, 2018, 7:36 am

I visited the Farmacia yesterday and was given oral antihistamine and a combined antibacterial/hydrocortisone cream. Less itch today and inflammation dying down but my leg is very red. Family member who is a bacteriologigist thinks I may need oral antibiotics. Will ask property manager here what the options are for getting to see a doctor or whether pharmacist can give over counter

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158745

Postby ReformedCharacter » August 11th, 2018, 1:30 pm

Clariman wrote:I visited the Farmacia yesterday and was given oral antihistamine and a combined antibacterial/hydrocortisone cream. Less itch today and inflammation dying down but my leg is very red. Family member who is a bacteriologigist thinks I may need oral antibiotics. Will ask property manager here what the options are for getting to see a doctor or whether pharmacist can give over counter

I hope you get better soon :)

By coincidence there's an article in the DT today, 'Mutant mosquitoes: Can gene editing kill off malaria?'

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/muta ... l-malaria/

The Gates Foundation has calculated that approximately 10 people a year are killed by sharks, 100 by lions, 1,000 by crocodiles, 10,000 by tsetse flies, 50,000 by snakes and 475,000 by other humans.

Mosquitoes kill roughly 725,000 – mostly through malaria but also through diseases like dengue and yellow fever. ‘When it comes to killing humans, no other animal even comes close,’ Bill Gates has said.

There's some controversy over the gene-editing technique proposed:

Of gene-drive’s critics, he says, ‘They mostly sit in comfortable offices in San Diego or San Francisco. I’d like them to live in the bush in Africa where malaria is a problem every day. I think the decision whether to use this technology or not should be left to the people who have the problem.’

They also need to consider the alternative, Prof Crisanti suggests: ‘What about the moral issue of doing nothing and leaving all those people dying of malaria?’

Bill Gates made a similar point in a recent Reuters interview. ‘Malaria itself is quite controversial. It kills about 400,000 kids a year,’ he noted.


RC

Clariman
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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158787

Postby Clariman » August 11th, 2018, 4:49 pm

In case anyone is interested, I visited a doctor in Italy today to check my leg bites for infection. This had happened to me in france a few years ago and i was concerned this was heading the same way.

Like the pharmacist yesterday he said the Italian equivant of "ooh ... wow", but after er a bit of prodding he said there was no infection and that the stuff from the pharmacist is the right stuff. Good news. I should have asked if I could use the pool, but the sight of my legs would scare young children so best not to ;)

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158881

Postby maximan » August 12th, 2018, 7:08 am

Hi Clariman glad to hear your bites are not infected.
I know it will not help you on holiday but we have recently had trouble with mosquitos here in the south east so we tried a plug our daughter in-law told us about.
Unfortunately the box has been recycled so I do not have the name but she bought them on Amazon and i'm sure there must be many makes around.
Anyway they have "Pest Reject" on the front and emit a blue light when on. They cost around £10 for two plugs.
They claim to repel flies spiders mosquitos and many other bugs by sending out a high pitched noise and so far they are doing just that.
Certainly mosquito bites are well down and the number of flies in the house has reduced to a trickle.
We have one in the bedroom and one in the hall.
Hope this helps someone else.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

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Re: Dealing with mosquitos and other bugs

#158958

Postby djbenedict » August 12th, 2018, 12:58 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:By coincidence there's an article in the DT today, 'Mutant mosquitoes: Can gene editing kill off malaria?'

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/muta ... l-malaria/

The Gates Foundation has calculated that approximately 10 people a year are killed by sharks, 100 by lions, 1,000 by crocodiles, 10,000 by tsetse flies, 50,000 by snakes and 475,000 by other humans.

Mosquitoes kill roughly 725,000 – mostly through malaria but also through diseases like dengue and yellow fever. ‘When it comes to killing humans, no other animal even comes close,’ Bill Gates has said.



I know we are getting off-topic, but that is incredibly sloppy thinking from Bill Gates. It's the malaria-causing microorganisms that kill humans, not the mosquitoes which are simply a host in the same way the human is.

It is therefore spurious to compare the 725,000 malarial deaths with, for instance, the 50,000 deaths caused by snakes (surprisingly high number). It would be more meaningful to make the comparison with deaths caused by other diseases caused by microorganisms, like tuberculosis, which kills about 1,300,000 per annum.

Mind you, I am not saying that the approach outlined is not a sensible one; just expected better really.


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