The Three 'Ds' of Protection Against a Little Pain in the Neck

Summer is the perfect time for outdoor activities like camping, hiking and picnicking but these also come with a tiny, annoying yet dangerous problem: mosquitoes.

With more time spent outdoors this time of year, it’s important to know how to protect yourself and family from the nasty critters, said Joe Conlon, technical advisor for the American Mosquito Control Association.

He recommends his three D’s for protection against mosquitoes:

• Drain
• DEET
• Dress

The first D is drain. An important step, Conlon said, is getting rid of stagnant water where mosquitoes can easily breed. Conlon warned that mosquitoes can breed in anything from still ponds to a discarded soda bottle lid with water in it.

“They’ve been around for 170 million years, so they’re very adaptable,” Conlon said.

Steve Gerloff, environmental field services supervisor for the Montgomery County Health Department, said getting rid of stagnant water is particularly important in the county because of the type of mosquitoes found here.

“The species we have aren’t the best fliers, so if you’re getting bitten, they’re breeding somewhere close to you,” Gerloff said.

Gerloff said the county receives a grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection to look for breeding in public areas and conduct sprays of those areas, as well as to trap mosquitoes for research.

The next D is DEET, the best insect repellant, Conlon said. DEET is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended ingredient in bug sprays and is the best on the market, Conlon said.

The downfall for some people is the smell and feel of the spray, but Conlon said SC Johnson has gone to great lengths to make the spray more cosmetically appealing for people.

Picaridin is another insect repellant and is the most popular outside of the United States, Conlon said. He said formulas with 15-percent picaridin will also detract ticks. He added that both picaridin and DEET are OK for infants over 2 months old if there is only 10 percent of the chemical in each formula.

For those looking for a natural mosquito repellent, Conlon said oil of lemon eucalyptus works best, with 40 percent in bug sprays and lotions.

The final D is dress. Conlon said wearing loose, light colored long sleeves and pants will prevent bites. Some mosquitoes, he said, are more attracted to dark clothing, and the insects can bite through tight-fitting clothing.

Conlon added that tiki torches and other candles work just as well as citronella candles because the mosquitoes seem to keep away from the smoke. He said having a fan on decks and porches can help keep mosquitoes away, too.

However, if you’ve taken all the right precautions and still get bit, Conlon said the best thing for bites is an antihistamine lotion, like calamine. He also warns not to scratch at the bug bite because secondary infections are common, he said.

Conlon said if a person has a bad reaction to a bite, it doesn’t necessarily indicate a disease—bites just affect everyone differently.

However, illnesses are fairly common, and West Nile virus is still a big concern, with the United States seeing about a 1,000 cases of it per year, Conlon said. New York, a Pennsylvania neighbor, is in the top three states for cases of West Nile, Conlon said.

Also, with Montgomery County being close to Philadelphia, another concern is airport malaria, Conlon said.

“The fact is, Philadelphia is an eight-hour flight from some of the nastiest mosquitos,” Conlon said.

He said outbreaks of malaria can start when someone flies in from a foreign country and was infected by a mosquito while abroad. Conlon said in some cases, it can start a short cycle of malaria in that area.

The CDC also considers a large amount of mosquitos to be a health problem, even if they aren't spreading disease, Conlon said.

Gerloff said if anyone has a mosquito problem in Montgomery County, he encourages them to contact the health department, and it will come out and take care of the problem.