The mosquito menace!

The beautiful, clean and green monsoons, often become an unhappy party ground for us, when the infections rise on their peak leading to many diseases. And mosquitoes are a real menace around monsoons. With increasing mutations of the viruses, parasites, mosquito bites are becoming more dreadful than ever with so many mosquito-borne diseases spreading worldwide. Starting from Malaria and Chikungunya to the recent Zika fever, Mosquitoes are responsible for more than 15 diseases in humans. These tiny pests and so much of harm to our health! 

Just imagine this growing concern. Mosquitoes love the warmer and damper regions and these breeding grounds are on a rise with the global warming every year.

What triggers mosquitoes for a blood meal?

Usually the culprit is a female mosquito, as it has been researched that she needs a blood meal to lay her eggs. As the blood gets digested, the eggs are developed and after 4-5 days of the blood meal, she lays batches of eggs. Within the short lifespan of around a month, the female mosquito can take many blood meals and lay several batches of eggs. And when they are on their blood meals, they inject saliva, which becomes the basic transmitter of disease (if that mosquito is already infected with virus) for humans.

These virus-infected mosquitoes are more of a concern for kids and we, as parents, really need to ensure the preventive modes against mosquito bites.

Did you know that mosquitos are not much attracted towards lights as compared to the certain fragrances, cologne, and smell? They find their prey by detecting the smell of CO2 (carbon dioxide), Octenol and other mixed odours along with the body warmth and heat. And hence repellents with these chemicals, gases and vapours prove to be the best traps for mosquitoes.

Best ways to control Mosquito breeding and bites :

1. Clothing :

Opt for light coloured and full sleeves clothing, more so in the breeding seasons. Mosquitoes are usually attracted by bright colours compared to the white and dull colours.

2. Proper Drains :

Ensuring no water puddles, drainages inside the house or in the neighbourhood. These water logged drains are a perfect grounds for their breeding and spreading all across in the vicinity. So ensure to keep the drainages covered and get them cleaned on regular intervals.

3. Clean Pool :

If you have a pool, keep it clean, chlorinated and covered when not in use.

4. Repellents :

Natural or topical Mosquito repellents, roll-ons, patches are the best for kids while they are indoors as well as for the outdoor play. Simple and effective to use.(Though ensure that kids are fully covered while outdoors)

5. Electronic Mosquito Killers :

I recently came across Electronic Mosquito killers from Goodknight, which is a new and much advanced modification of the coils, we used years back as one of the effective measures to kill mosquitoes.

Goodknight came out with a Power Chip System, which is an electrical solution with Gel – technology that has the power of 100 coils, sounds great? This product ensures that the power vapours (with pleasant fragrance) are spread all across the corners of the room to keep these lethal insects at a bay. Electronic Mosquito killers seems to be a great option for the whole house. Simply plugin the chip with machine, switch it on and let the vapours spread around the room. One machine and a full saviour for all for the whole day.

Further, it is absolutely safe to use this power chip technology with children in the house. Since it works as an electrical repellent, it does not emits any smoke or harmful gases. I still remember some 20 years back, when dad used to burn coils to kill mosquitoes and we all had to rush out form the rooms for quite some time.  With technological advances, Electronic Mosquito Killer sounds a perfect solution for all kinds of mosquitoes, including those that spread dengue, malaria and Chikungunya. Further, the whole unit (machine+chip) comes of INR45/-, which runs for 15 days easily, post which one can buy the new chip (INR30/-) which can be used in same machine.  

With the simplicity of this chip, effectiveness of the vapours, these electronic mosquito repellents have proven to be the most effective for mosquito protection.

Have you used these Electronic mosquito killers? If yes, what has been your feedback and observation? Do share your thoughts on how you control mosquito menace in your houses?

Happy Monsoon!

References :

UNICEF study