Mosquitoes cause many diseases like malaria and dengue virus. They are basically carriers of these diseases. After biting an infected person, the mosquito becomes a carrier and when it bites another healthy person, he gets infected.
One way to protect yourself from
these diseases is to protect yourself from mosquito bites. For that, liquid or
solid repellents and, body sprays and oils are in great use today.
To keep mosquitoes away you just
need to burn a coil or switch on an electric liquid repellent.
Applying a coat of different
commercial oils and sprays to your body can also help avoid mosquito bites.
Simple explanation for working of mosquito repellents
By interfering with the insects'
ability to locate hosts or by rendering them confused, unconscious, paralyzed,
or even causing death, these repellents effectively protect humans from
mosquito bites and the diseases they carry.
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History of mosquito repellents
Mosquito repellents have not only
been in use since the last century, but they have been used as far back as 484
BC-ca 425 BC which was found in the notes of Herodotus. He noted the use of
plant oils by Egyptian fishermen to repel mosquitoes.
In addition, oils form neem,
citronella, lemon-grass, cedar, peppermint and eucalyptus were also used to
apply on the body to keep mosquitoes away. These oils are also known as
essential oils.
These oils are composed of a
range of chemicals which include α-pinene, eugenol, limonene, citronellol,
thymol and camphor etc.
How these oils work?
Mosquitos have antenna which
contains hairs. These hairs are used by mosquito to find a host by detecting
persons carbon dioxide and movement of air. These are moisture and temperature
sensitive.
These oils actually block these
tiny hairs which in turn interfere with the senses of mosquito and in-turn
mosquito become confused to find the host.
N, N-diethyl-3- methylbenzamide
(DEET) which is found in many body sprays, lotion, liquids and roll on actullay
work in the similar manner by blocking their senses to find a host or simply
blocking their smells.
How mosquitos’ liquid repellents and coils work?
Coils and liquid repellent are
composed of chemicals i.e. pyrethroids such as transallethrin and
transfluthrin.
These chemical targets the
nervous system of the mosquitos. More precisely they affect sodium and chloride
channels in the nervous system which play crucial roles in transmitting signals
between nerve cells. This disruption leads to hyperexcitation of nerve cells,
causing paralysis and eventual death of the mosquitoes.
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