Mosquitoes can become attracted to insect repellant!
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Jonathan Healy filling in for Clare Byrne on this Friday of a bank holiday weekend. If you're heading off, this is one you may need to pay attention to. Lots of international travellers realise that mosquitoes are the worst part of the experience, but the good news is they have the spray to keep them away. Well, what if I was to tell you that mosquitoes have now evolved... to be attracted to the smell of DEET and associate it with feeding. To explain this more, Medical Director of the Tropical Medical Bureau, Dr. Graeme Fry is with us. Hello, Graeme. Hi, John.
What are the main challenges international travelers face with mosquitoes?
Now, the good news for me is that mosquitoes distinctly do not like me. I don't know what it is about my blood. They don't nibble on me at all, whereas my good lady wife is the equivalent of a Michelin-starred restaurant when they are nearby. First of all, why do mosquitoes like some people more than others?
Okay, well, I think we need to take a step back. I think mosquitoes like everyone. I honestly do. They seem to like everyone and they bite everyone. It's just some people react, some people don't. When the mozzie bites you, she shakes her proboscis. That's her... a needle at the front of her mouth. She sticks that through your skin. She wants your blood. She wants to suck up a drop. She can't.
How have mosquitoes evolved to be attracted to DEET?
That's a very small needle, and your blood is very thick and viscous, like a milkshake when you first get it. Nothing happens. You have to wait for a while. So she can't suck up your blood at that point. So she injects saliva down, and then that anticoagulates her blood, and then she can suck it back up again. So I don't think you're reacting to the bite, I'm afraid, Jonathan. I think it's a question of whether you react to her saliva. Some people have the allergy. Some people don't. It's as simple as that. It's nothing very complicated. I mean, you can stick a pin in yourself and you don't react. And that's what the needle is doing. That's what the actual proboscis is. It's just sticking a pin through your skin.
And unless it's breaking down mast cells under the skin, you're not going to get much reaction. But the saliva, you will potentially have an allergy to.
Now, people who go particularly to foreign climes, and I'm thinking Southeast Asia heading to places like Thailand, they will, as well as getting their all immunisations from their GP before they go, they tend to pack the deet because deet, we were always told, will keep the mosquitoes away. So what has changed?
Okay, well, you're basing this on one research paper which has just come through. There's a little bit of information, but very little at this stage. And it was done under laboratory conditions which are very specialised, rather than the person out on the street lying under a sun lounger and all those sort of things. So it's a little bit different to what we're going to see practically speaking. So I think people need to be a little bit careful. DETA is still by far the best way to protect you against mosquito bites. The only question is, is that advice going to change slightly in the future? And it's possible. And over the next couple of weeks, months, we may see more papers coming out suggesting the same as this particular French paper does.
But at the same time, fundamentally, mosquitoes are attracted by a number of different things. They're attracted by dark, dark clothing. So the first thing is don't wear dark clothing. Second thing is they're attracted by smell.
Why do mosquitoes prefer some people over others?
And that smell is any smell. So it's perfumes, deodorants, aftershave, shampoo, sunblock, clothes, powders, all those sort of things. And perspiration, which is why they bite around your ankles. They're attracted by carbon dioxide, which means when you're actually breathing out, you're breathing out carbon dioxide, which may mean you're going to get bitten at the top half of your body. And the fourth thing is any smell can actually attract them towards you. And the question really is, does DEET actually have smell? If you put on far too much DEET, are you creating smell?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:43
2
What are the main challenges international travelers face with mosquitoes?
0:43–1:24
3
How have mosquitoes evolved to be attracted to DEET?
1:24–3:18
4
Why do mosquitoes prefer some people over others?
3:18–7:26
5
What factors contribute to mosquito attraction?
7:26–7:55
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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