Mosquito-born diseases affect millions of people worldwide each year. The bite of a mosquito can result in anything from a skin irritation to contracting malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis, yellow fever, and many other serious diseases. Clearly, mosquitoes are not just a nuisance, but also a major health hazard, making it vital to know how to avoid getting bitten.
One of the most effective ways to avoid mosquito bites is to wear an effective insect repellent, containing DEET (N,N-diethyl meta-toluamide). It is essentially a poison that masks the natural odour and carbon monoxide that is released from the human body. DEET, when combined with permethrin impregnated clothing and mosquito nets will provide the best protection from getting bitten. Backpackers are advised to travel with their own mosquito nets because hotel and hostel mosquito nets are often damaged, rendering them useless. If you don’t want to travel with a mosquito net you should sleep in rooms that are properly screened with gauze over the windows and doors. There should be no holes in the gauze and no unscreened entry points to the room. Air-conditioned rooms are good, too.
Mosquitoes particularly bite at dusk and during the night, so you should take most precautions during this time. You should wear long, baggy clothing after sunset but it may be hard to follow such advice in a hot climate. Keep as much skin and hair covered as practical. Avoid bright, floral coloured clothing as light colours are less attractive to mosquitoes. Khaki, beige, and olive have no particular attraction for mosquitoes. It would be better to avoid being outdoors altogether during peak biting hours (from dusk until dawn) if you are staying close to where mosquitoes dwell such as swamps and dense forests.
Mosquitoes are also attracted by some body odours, and for this reason they choose some individuals over others in a crowd. Avoid fragrances in soaps, shampoos, and lotions. It is a good idea to take shower before dusk to minimise any body odour.
Hi, very informative article and I can appreciate you may not wish to post this but I’d just like to bring this site (www.naturallyonguard.com) to your attention as it offers a really good alterantive ot DEET based products.
I’m sure you’re aware that DEET is actually a solvent and is known to dissolve plastic, synthetic materials, polished surfaces and varnish. It is not good to have it leak in your rucksack at anytime.
Onguard has been tried, tested and used in Africa for several years now and really is a credible alterantive. Please also take a look at the blog as it contains some mosquito related features which will be of interest to backpackers / travellers. Cheers, Mike
We would much prefer to endorse natural insect repellents such as ‘Onguard’ or ‘Incognito Anti-Mosquito’ but in our experience they are not as effective as DEET. When you are dealing with serious diseases such as malaria you must opt for the best protection available. DEET does have its downsides but it is the most clinically proven protection against mosquito bites. We have tested some repellents with natural ingredients and they didn’t provide 100% protection. In comparison we recently tested Lifesystems Expedition 50 Insect Repellent in East Africa and didn’t get bitten at all. This is the repellent we would recommend to travellers heading to anywhere where there is a risk of contracting malaria or any other serious disease.
It is a fact that with insect repellents ‘one size does not fit all’ and I certainly appreciate you can only recommend a product you personally know to be effective. However I would suggest it is still worth a look at OnGuard as it has not only been 100% effective for myself and many others, but has also been laboratory tested actually in E Africa (Nakuru, Kenya) and is recommend by them for consideration. They state..’ any product that offers a minimum of 5 hours protection can be used in vector control to mitigate diseases such as malria…and can be recommended OnGuard for such a purpose’.
As you are no doubt aware that one should not just rely on a personal repelent for your protection but also employ as many other aids (nets, proper clothing etc.) as possible -and just in case Lifesystems doesn’t work for for all your readers, or they actually react to DEET, then they could consider OnGuard.
We do all agree though you must use something to stop being bitten as its not an option to be……’twice shy!’
We appreciate ‘one size does not fit all’ because of the possible adverse effects of DEET or allergies to natural ingredients. Also, any one brand is not equally effective for everyone, particularly in the case of non-chemical insect repellents with different active ingredients. We wouldn’t deter anyone from trying OnGuard or any other natural insect repellent. We would, however, recommend travellers thoroughly research the product prior to purchase and not solely rely on the advice of an OnGuard employee. Give it a try readers and let us know your verdict.