The Harm of Mosquitoes and a Complete Analysis of Control Measures

Mosquitoes are one of the Four Pests, and the mosquito ranks first among the most deadly animals in the world, causing more than 725,000 deaths each year. The female mosquito is the intermediate host of dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis and other pathogens. Let's look at the harm of mosquitoes and what control measures there are!

What are the harms of mosquitoes?

In most parts of the world, mosquitoes are a serious public health problem. It is estimated that about 700 million people are infected with various diseases by mosquitoes each year, and 1 out of every 17 people dies from various diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. Especially in tropical regions, many infectious diseases are often transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

1. Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria: Malaria is transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria is also called miasma. According to a 1935 survey by the health department, in areas where miasma was prevalent, 50% of residents had malaria parasites in their blood, and 72% suffered from malignant malaria.

2. Epidemic encephalitis B: This is an acute infectious disease caused by a filterable virus, and it is also carried by mosquitoes. This disease is also called Japanese encephalitis B, and it is commonly called brain fever. Patients have symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting, convulsions, lethargy and coma. There is no specific drug for treatment, so the mortality rate is quite high.

3. Transmission of filariasis: The transmission vectors of filariasis are more than 30 species of mosquitoes in 4 genera, such as Anopheles sinensis, Anopheles minimus, Culex pipiens pallens and Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus. Humans are the only definitive host, and the general population is susceptible.

4. Transmission of dengue fever: Aedes mosquitoes are the main mosquito species that transmit the dengue virus. They have black and white stripes on their bodies, so they are also called black-striped mosquitoes.

Mosquito control measures

1. Household mosquito prevention measures: A scientific mosquito control method should focus mainly on eliminating breeding environments, supplemented by drugs to kill larvae and adult mosquitoes. Only in this way can you get twice the result with half the effort.

① Change the water of indoor aquatic ornamental plants at least once a week, or switch to growing them in sand.

② Frequently check pots, jars, floor drains, sewers, flower pots and other places with standing water at home. Put lids on those that have lids, and change the water frequently for those that need it.

③ Prevent standing water in floor drains, sewers and other places, and spray insecticide from time to time so as not to give mosquitoes a living environment.

④ Be careful to close screen windows and screen doors properly. Do not leave doors and windows wide open to let mosquitoes march straight in.

⑤ Indoor sanitary blind spots should be cleaned up. Do not carelessly throw away cans, mineral water bottles, eggshells and other garbage that easily collects water, so as to reduce mosquito breeding sites.

⑥ If you are on a business trip or will not live there for a long time, put the toilet lid down and drain the water in washbasins and sinks to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs.

⑦ Mosquitoes like to hide in concealed places such as radiators, under beds, under tables and in corners. You can use mosquito coils to smoke them out and then catch and kill them one by one.

2. Plants and plant oils to repel mosquitoes

① Cooling oil and essential balm to repel mosquitoes: Place two or three opened bottles of cooling oil under the seat or beside the bedside table. Dripping essential balm on mosquito coils works even better.

② Beer or sugar to kill mosquitoes: Take several wide-mouth bottles, put a little strong sugar liquid or beer in them, and shake gently so that the upper inside of the bottles is coated with sugar liquid or beer liquid. Place them in places indoors where there are many mosquitoes. When mosquitoes smell the sugar, they will fly into the bottles and get stuck or drown.

③ Peppermint oil can deal with mosquitoes: Peppermint oil can not only repel mosquitoes, but also effectively kill mosquito larvae. Using peppermint oil can repel 85% of various mosquitoes.

④ Method of using mugwort to smoke out mosquitoes: Mugwort has a fragrance that can drive mosquitoes away. When it is about to get dark, light the mugwort, close the doors and windows, smoke for more than ten minutes, then open the doors and windows, and the purpose of repelling mosquitoes can be achieved.

⑤ Method of using plants to repel mosquitoes: Plant one or two tomato plants in indoor flower pots. The smell emitted by tomato branches and leaves will drive mosquitoes away; plant several pots of garden balsam, mint and night-blooming jasmine in front of the door and behind the window.

⑥ Perfume to repel mosquitoes: Spray some perfume on your body or pillow. Take frequent baths to reduce the smell of secretions, which can prevent mosquito bites.

3. Regulating the body's own mechanisms

① Taking frequent baths can remove the smell of body surface secretions and reduce the possibility of being attacked by mosquitoes.

② Vitamin B, through human metabolism, is excreted in sweat and produces a special odor that can repel mosquitoes. Therefore, you can eat more foods rich in vitamin B, such as brown rice, beans, dried fruit, nuts, peanut kernels, fruit, green vegetables, dairy products, river fish and seafood.

③ Wearing light-colored clothes such as yellow and white can reduce the chance of being bitten by mosquitoes.

4. Environmental mosquito repellent measures

① In view of mosquitoes' habit of being attracted to light, liking high-temperature, dark and humid environments, and coming out at night and hiding by day, you can turn off indoor lights in the evening, open doors and windows, wait for the mosquitoes to fly outside, and then tightly close screen windows and screen doors to prevent mosquitoes from flying in.

② Place several opened boxes of cooling oil and essential balm in the bedroom. Grinding camphor balls into powder and sprinkling it in indoor corners can repel mosquitoes.

③ Place one or two pots of mosquito-repelling flowers. Plant one or two tomato plants in indoor flower pots. The smell emitted by tomato branches and leaves will drive mosquitoes away.

④ Installing orange-red light bulbs indoors, or covering light bulbs with light-transmitting orange-red cellophane, can partially drive mosquitoes away.

⑤ Burning dried leftover tea leaves and orange peel can smoke mosquitoes away.

⑥ Rub an appropriate amount of mint, perilla or tomato leaves to extract juice and apply it to exposed human skin to prevent mosquito bites.

⑦ Hanging a bunch of scallions under a lamp, or putting several sections of scallion in a gauze bag, helps repel mosquitoes

5. Preventing mosquitoes from entering

① Carefully check screen windows once. There should be no holes or gaps.

② Usually pay more attention to the hygiene of damp places such as sewers to avoid mosquito breeding.

③ Pay attention to hygiene outside the door, and often spray insecticides specially used to kill mosquitoes, such as miehailing. When using insecticide at home, it is best to spray some when going to work, and then open the windows for ventilation after getting off work (not recommended).

④ For health, buy green, environmentally friendly and harmless electric mosquito coils. Prevention is more important.

⑤ Of course, there is also a lazy way, which is to use mosquito nets and apply mosquito repellent water before going to sleep.

6. Starting from the mosquito living environment

① Eliminate the mosquito living environment: Some living environments are poor and surrounded by much stagnant water, requiring frequent spraying, which is not only difficult for mosquito control but also costs a lot of money. So you might as well use some physical methods to kill mosquitoes. Solution: Clean up garbage in time and do not leave stagnant water.

② Start with isolation: Achieving a mosquito-free home and creating a green space is what everyone dreams of. It is especially important for people with allergic constitutions and respiratory diseases, and especially for delicate young children and pregnant women. Window screening is what we commonly use, and it is also the most effective. For window screening, the size of the mesh holes should be appropriate; when installing the screen, there should be a little extra margin to cover some window gaps. Installing window screening can only block most mosquitoes. The next things to do are crucial:

◆ The outlet of the range hood is so large that it is easy to forget. A screen should be installed at the outlet.

◆ The exhaust window must not be overlooked either.

◆ Water outlets: washbasins, washing machines, bathtubs, etc. Although some of these places have water-sealed bends, due to the siphon phenomenon they cannot keep mosquitoes out. Especially when it rains heavily and the water level rises, mosquitoes will swarm in through these places in large numbers. You can cover the openings with window screen cloth.

◆ For door gaps, sometimes the gap is very large and cannot be sealed even with door strips, especially the gap under the door. Use window screening from the bottom, fix the screen inside and outside, and it is best to leave it a little loose, then mosquitoes cannot get in.

◆ Then carefully check again for small holes and gaps through which mosquitoes could get in, and seal them with tape or sponge.

③ Phototaxis-based control: LED mosquito-killing lamps have appeared on the market. Using the principle that mosquitoes have phototaxis toward lamps, combined with 365NM wavelength violet light to attract mosquitoes, they are then attracted by the powerful fan under the light into a sealed chamber, where they are air-dried and dehydrated to death. It achieves the purpose of killing mosquitoes with no chemicals, no open flame, no pollution, no irritating odor, no additives, no noise, no radiation, no harmful gases, and high efficiency and energy saving. It is especially suitable for use by young children and pregnant women.

7. Garlic mosquito repellent method

In summer, mosquitoes not only buzz around your ears but also give you a big welt from time to time. What can be done to keep mosquitoes away from us? In fact, mosquitoes do not like the smell of garlic secreted by the human body, so eating an appropriate amount of garlic can effectively repel mosquitoes.

8. Biological mosquito control

① You should know that dragonflies and frogs are expert mosquito catchers. Everyone should protect wild animals (here referring to dragonflies and frogs), which can also help avoid mosquitoes. This is biological control.

② Leaving an appropriate amount of spider webs at home can also prevent mosquitoes and insects (do not have too many spider webs)

③ If you like keeping fish, then mosquito fish are an excellent choice (mosquito fish can be kept at home), because mosquito fish can prey on more than 200 mosquitoes in a day and night. Mosquito fish not only prey on mosquitoes but also on wrigglers, so in some ponds with many wrigglers, releasing some mosquito fish is the best option.