It is summertime finally ☀! This season is long-awaited every year, but there is one major downside to summer, and that is mosquitoes and biting insects. There is nothing like endless mosquito bites scarring up your legs and itching you like crazy, to put a slight damper on things. Some people though, do not consider mosquito bites to be a big deal, but everyone should. Just as malaria and West Nile virus are a pretty big deal, and you should try to avoid them like the plague, so should you avoid mosquito bites, which can give you malaria and West Nile virus, and many other diseases. 

In addition, over a million people die from mosquito bites every single year. So today, I will teach you why you should avoid getting mosquito bites, the best product to use to avoid getting bitten, and how to treat mosquito bites once they happen. 

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The Danger Lurking Behind Every Mosquito

“Over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Not only can mosquitoes carry diseases that afflict humans, but they also transmit several diseases and parasites that dogs and horses are very susceptible to. These include dog heartworm, West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE)” (Mosquito-Borne Diseases. The American Mosquito Control Association/AMCA).

Mosquito bites are annoying, but more than that, all-female mosquitoes pose a health risk because they can spread disease from person-to-person. In the same way that we can share blood diseases by sharing needles with others, so can we get blood diseases from mosquitoes in the same way. 

When a female mosquito bites you, she injects her long mouth (also called the proboscis) into your skin. She then injects her saliva into you to prevent your blood from clotting, and then she drinks your blood in order to feed her babies at the same time she releases blood into your bloodstream. That blood released into your bloodstream contains contaminants from the other animals she has been feeding on. 

A female mosquito can bite many different people or one person several times, but when she injects you, she is not only injecting her saliva into you, but she can also inject larvae and a variety of contaminants from all she has been biting into you as well. 

What happens is that some flies will place their eggs on mosquitoes, and use the mosquitoes to transfer their eggs to a place where they can grow safely. Flies know that mosquitoes will bite others, and when she bites you, the eggs that are placed on her will be injected into your skin. Once inside of you, the larvae can safely grow, feed, and reproduce. 

Furthermore, flies carry and spread a wide number of diseases by themselves, and they can pass their larvae into you, by biting you directly as well.

Image Source: “Housefly”, Wikipedia.

Flies Are Known For Spreading:

1. Myiasis
2. Cholera
3. Typhoid Fever
4. Anthrax
5. Salmonella
5. E. coli
6. Dysentery
7. Hepatitis A
8. Tuberculosis
9. Rotavirus
10. Conjunctivitis
11. Shigella
12. Gastroenteritis  

The idea of larvae/insect eggs being injected into your body is like something out of a nightmare, but the nightmare doesn’t end there. Along with fly larvae, mosquitoes also pass along whatever diseases the previous people bitten had to the next one bitten, and they inject these diseases directly into your bloodstream where they will grow. When we come down with a disease as a result of being bitten by a mosquito, it is called a “mosquito-borne disease”.

Common Diseases Passed From Mosquitoes To Humans Includes:

1. West Nile, Zika, and Chikungunya Virus
2. Encephalitis 
3. Malaria
3. Yellow and Dengue Fever

“Disease epidemics from viruses spread by mosquitoes are happening more often, including the recent Zika (2015-2017) and Chikungunya (2013-2014) epidemics. West Nile virus is the most common virus spread by mosquitoes in the continental United States. In the United States, people can also get sick from less common viruses spread by mosquitoes, like La Crosse encephalitis or St. Louis encephalitis. From 2004 to 2016, most US cases of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika were reported in US territories” (Mosquito Bites: Everyone is at Risk! CDC).

How To Prevent Mosquito Bites

In order to prevent mosquito bites, you need to spray yourself and your loved ones with an insect mosquito repellent. I recommend using natural or organic ones because chemicals will absorb into your skin, especially while doing physical activity when you are sweating and your pores are open. We use Natural Herbal Lotion spray to mist all over and mosquitoes stay away.  In addition, many people also have bad reactions to chemicals, and some are very sensitive or fragile, like children and infants, so these individuals should have as little contact with chemicals as possible.

The inexpensive mosquito repellent here in my health store is in a spray travel-friendly size bottle that will fit right into your bag or purse and can be taken on the plane to germicide the seat and headrest. The Natural Herbal Lotion can be found here in our health store. You can also get a larger family size bottle of this product and dilute it and put it into several spray bottles to give to your family members to travel with.

Another thing that I suggest is to avoid wearing shorts or short-sleeve tops if you know you will be outside for an extended period of time. During the hot summer months, I tend to reach for long or mid-sleeve button-down cotton blouses so that I won’t get too hot, but I can still protect myself from no-see-ums and mosquito bites.

How To Treat Mosquito Bites

Even when we try our best to prevent things, sometimes things just don’t quite as planned. You could be out one day, and you forget to spray yourself down with mosquito repellent, or your bottle could run out. So when things like this happen, you just have to hope for the best and treat the bite as soon as you can. Here are the steps that I follow to treat any mosquito bite that I get.

Ice

When you get bitten by a mosquito, you should put a cold ice pack from the freezer on the bite. If you do not have an ice pack, you can use an ice cube. This will help to freeze and kill some of the larvae, as well as take down the swelling from the bite.

Apply An Astringent

Applying an astringent after you apply ice, will help to make sure that all the rest of the larva are destroyed. Again, I recommend using a natural and organic product to do this. The Natural Herbal Lotion that I mentioned above is also great for this.

You should continue to apply ice and an astringent every day until the bite is gone and it no longer itches.

Conclusion

Summer is a great time for festivals 🎪, family events 🎐, BBQs 🍖, participating in outdoor sports 🎾, watching performances outside 🏀, having picnics 🍱, going to amusement parks 🎢, fishing 🎣, and going out with friends and family 💑. While enjoying the beautiful summer this year, do what you need to, to make sure that you and your family are safe this summer. 

Have a wonderful summer everyone 🎉!

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