Precautions against mosquito bites

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LogoKeyPointsBox.png Basic preventative measures for:
  1. Stay away from them
    • Increasingly only an option if you spend the right half of the year living in high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and the other half in the equivalent latitudes of the southern hemisphere.
    • But still a very good idea where practicable
  2. Remove them
    1. No open sources of water for breeding
    2. Mosquito nets - best if insecticide impregnated and beneficial[1][2] but many find them difficult to comply with especially in high temperatures and humidity.
    3. Insect repellents

Useless

Mosquito coils - very popular and are likely to be ineffective or harmful[3]

References

  1. Lengeler C. Insecticide-treated bed nets and curtains for preventing malaria. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online). (2):CD000363.(Link to article – subscription may be required.)
  2. Gamble C, Ekwaru JP, ter Kuile FO. Insecticide-treated nets for preventing malaria in pregnancy. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online). (2):CD003755.(Epub) (Link to article – subscription may be required.)
  3. Croft AM. Mosquito coils and vaporising mats in non-pregnant adult travellers. Clinical Evidence

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