Protecting yourself from mosquitoes means protection against some of the most debilitating and potentially fatal illnesses like dengue and chikungunya. With the rampant rise in the number of cases of these diseases, one can find information (both correct and incorrect) being disseminated everywhere.
While facts can help save lives, misinformation can deflate your efforts to keep your family safe from falling prey to such completely preventable diseases.
One of the lesser known and misunderstood topics is the use of mosquito repellents – they can effectively help prevent mosquito bites, thus preventing mosquito-borne diseases. Don’t fall prey to these mosquito repellent myths and inadvertently put your health at risk!
Myth 1: I don’t need a mosquito repellent when the AC is on
Fact: Sure, mosquitoes like hot and humid environments, so maintaining a cool home can help ward them off. But to send them into complete dormancy, you need a temperature below 50 degree Fahrenheit (10 degree Celsius). Temperature influences the activity of mosquitoes; while there may be fewer mosquitoes when it is cooler, they are still present and can bite.
So it’s best to use repellents even when the AC is on, no matter what time of day it is.
Myth 2: Mosquitoes only bite at night
Fact: You are in for a shocker! Aedes aegypti is a mosquito that can spread diseases like dengue and chikungunya – the two most concerning diseases India is battling right now and they are caused by a daytime biting mosquito! Aedes aegypti is most active during daylight, for approximately two hours after sunrise and several hours before sunset.
Myth 3: Repellents can only be used indoors
Fact: Now that you know that the mosquitoes that cause dengue and chikungunya are daytime hunters, you must be worrying over the protection of your loved ones who spend their day outdoors. Schools, offices, playgrounds, shopping centres, streets – you can get bitten anywhere. Alas, repellents can only be used indoors – Wrong! You can use a personal repellent every time before you step out of house.
Use Goodknight Fabric Roll-On that has been recently introduced in the market. It is made of 100% natural oils and provides 8 hours of protection from mosquitoes. All you have to do is just apply 4 dots of non-staining Goodknight Fabric Roll-On on your clothes and be protected from mosquitoes for 8 hours.
Myth 4: Mosquitoes cannot fly higher than 15-20 feet so I am safe if I live on higher floors
Fact: Aren’t mosquitoes a menace in high rise buildings? Of course, they are. Travelling to higher altitudes isn’t a problem for these bloodsuckers. Mosquitoes are found breeding in tree holes 50 feet above ground. You can also find them thriving in high rise apartment buildings. Clearly, it can be reiterated that the best way to prevent chikungunya and dengue is to stop mosquitoes from breeding in your homes and using repellents to prevent mosquito bites.
Hence even if you are living in a high rise you have to use mosquito repellents at home be it in the form of liquid vaporizer machines like Goodknight Gold Flash, coils like Goodknight Neem Agarbatt or paper like Goodknight Fast Card.
Myth 5: Mosquitoes breed only in dirty water so stagnant clean water is not a problem.
Fact: Aedes aegypti is adapted to breed around human lodgings and lays its eggs in clean water. In fact, the mosquito requires very little water to reproduce – a teaspoon of water is enough to produce eggs. A female Aedes aegypti can lay eggs in any open container – a planter, a bucket, a bird bath, an unused dog dish or an empty beer bottle. So don’t let water stagnate, clean or dirty.
This article first appeared on www.thehealthsite.com
