Problems people have faced with mosquito bites

Recent coverage of Cheryl Coles fight against Malaria after a break away in Tanzania in June is proof that you can never be too prepared when you go away on holiday...
Even after taking a full course of Malaria tablets before she travelled, Cheryl Cole still managed to contract one of the rare forms of Malaria that is resistant to drugs, and consequently had to spend weeks recovering in hospital and at her Surrey home.

Symptoms of Malaria

One of the many problems with mosquito bites is that they take days/weeks to exhibit themselves, putting your body at risk of long term health complications.
Malaria in particular (which is popular in tropical and sub-tropical regions) takes 6-14 days to incubate after infection, resulting in fever, shivering, joint pain, vomiting, anaemia, retina damage, convulsions and if left untreated: hallucinations, comas and even death.
Fortunately there a number of precautions you can take to help protect you and your family from mosquito bites, such as anti-malarial drugs and vaccines. However, as Cheryl Cole’s story clearly shows, even drugs cannot provide you with the full protection you need, especially as mosquitoes are developing a higher resistance to anti-malarial drugs.

How to protect your body

You can never do too much to protect your skin from mosquito bites. Alongside completing a full course of Malaria tablets, it is advisable that you take with you a number of other precautions to ensure 100% safety against all mosquito related diseases.

• Patches – applied directly to your skin, patches such as Mosquito Patch can effectively protect you from The West Nile Virus, Malaria, Yellow Fever, Encephalitis and Dengue Fever.
  
  Safe for use by your whole family, Mosquito Patch contains 75mg of Thiamine that is subtly excreted from your body via your urine, sweat and breathe causing your natural aroma to change and smell unappetising to mosquitoes for over 24 hours.
  
• Sprays – lethal to all forms of insects, ladybirds and butterflies too, sprays are effective for 2-4 hours when sprayed directly into the air. However, like many pesticides, those who have survived will after 6 generations of offspring will be resistant to your mosquito spray, so you will need to change your spray every couple of months.
  
  Insect repellents can range in effectiveness depending on whether they are synthetic or natural. Synthetic insect repellents last for up to 2 hours on your skin, whilst natural repellents such as neem oil, citronella oil and lemon eucalyptus are at their most effective the first 30-60 minutes after application. Because of their limited effectiveness, you will need to reapply these sprays every 1-2 hours.

CLICK HERE TO BUY MOSQUITO PATCH

Diseases that can be caught from mosquitoes

Mosquito bites can cause more than a little irritation to your skin. Many mosquitoes will ‘cross-bite’ between species catching a variety of different diseases which they then pass onto you…
The problem occurs when mosquitoes enter into their mating season. During this period, female mosquitoes swap their traditional diet of nectar for blood because of the iron/protein properties blood contains.
Feeding from a variety of different blood sources: birds, horses, rodents etc, any diseases these animals may be carrying are instantly passed on through their saliva when they come to feed on you.

What could I catch?

There are 5 key diseases you should be vary of when dealing with mosquito bites: Encephalitis, West Nile Fever, Dengue Fever, Malaria and Yellow Fever.

Encephalitis

Encephalitis can come in various different forms: St. Louis, Western Equine, La Crosse, Eastern Equine and West Nile to name a few, but each comes with their own worrying health risks. Eastern Equine Encephalitis, although the rarest of this group, has currently got a mortality rate of 30%-60% due to the severe damage it does to your nervous system.
Symptoms usually occur within 2-10 days of being bitten and can result in high fevers, a stiff neck, headaches, confusion, lethargy and the most dangerous of them all ‘swelling of the brain’.

West Nile Fever

Exhibiting itself 3 to 14 days after you have been bitten, the West Nile Virus can cause fevers, headaches, nausea, vomiting and a rash. However, its more severe symptoms include neck stiffness, disorientation, tremors, coma, vision loss and paralysis.
These symptoms usually last for a few weeks; however they can become permanent if left untreated.
More worrying is the fact that:

• 80% of people who contract West Nile Fever do not show symptoms
• 20% only show mild to serious symptoms
• Those most at risk of showing full-on severe symptoms are children, the elderly and individuals suffering from auto-immune deficiencies

  Dengue Fever

Dengue Fever can result in a spectrum of illnesses ranging from viral flu to fatal hemorrhagic fever. Causing sudden fever, headaches, joint pain, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and a hemorrhagic rash, Dengue Fever is most dangerous to children who if they get bitten twice can experience severe internal bleeding, shock and circulatory collapse.

Malaria

Caused by the parasite found in the Anopheles mosquito, Malaria takes 6-8 days to exhibit itself and can symptoms resembling the onset of flu: fever, chills, headaches, and muscle ache, before progressing to vomiting, vision damage, convulsions and liver damage if left untreated.
Malaria is possibly the easiest to protect against due to the introduction of anti-malarial drugs; however mosquitoes are becoming increasingly resistant to this medication so it is advised that you do not rely solely on anti-malarial drugs.

Yellow Fever

Most common in Africa and South America, Yellow Fever can cause fever, chills, headaches, backache, nausea, vomiting and jaundice. In more serious cases, it can affect your blood, liver and kidneys and can prove fatal if left untreated.

One of the ideal ways for disease prevention is applying a Mosquito Patch. You can also use a mosquito killer. A mosquito patch is more effective as you don’t have to envelope yourself in a net, or a closed room with chemicals or smoke. You can walk freely with a patch on your arm. And it provides long lasting protection from mosquitoes and other bugs. Prevent all the deadly diseases by simple cures like these.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM MOSQUITOES