| By :
Stewart Wrighter
Although we mostly look forward the warmer temperatures of summer, along with it comes the explosion of insects which seem to want to eat us alive. Indeed, many stinging and biting insects find us totally irresistible whenever we expose our skin and this then brings us problems in the end. In developing countries, malaria is a killer disease since the mosquito bites anyone who is not protected by bug spray or mosquito nets at night. Very often, those affected seek medical help much too late and death will certainly follow the infection. But in the States, malaria is not common. Indeed, what the mosquito normally carries here is encephalitis, otherwise known as West Nile Virus, and is normally found in birds. The mosquito feeds on the blood of an infected bird and the next time that it takes blood from a human or a horse, the virus is passed on. Although this bug seems to have no other purpose than to cause death and destruction wherever it goes, there is no way on earth that we will ever be rid of it. Even the sprays used to kill off the mosquitoes and the larvae it lays in stagnant water are quite toxic but man will certainly keep on trying to fight against it. There are some simple measures that people can use to try to discourage this pest from hanging around where human beings live. Keeping vegetation and grasses neatly trimmed and making sure that dark and dank corners are cleaned out regularly is a start. But the main thing to do is to make sure that there is no source of stagnant water in the vicinity in which the females lay their eggs. Even bird baths should be cleared out once a week, and old tires and any water carrying utensils turned upside down so that rainwater cannot gather there. In houses, if screens are not up at all the windows, bed nets should be used to stop the annoying bites from waking everyone up. After it feeds, the female leaves behind a red and raised area which itches and could get infected if not treated properly. A dab of household vinegar is enough to stop the itching sensation which cuts down on the chance of the bite becoming infected. Most people start getting worried when they hear the insistent buzz of the mosquito, but this is the male of the species which does not take blood at all. Indeed, it takes nectar from flowers as its food and actually sees off females in the area since they do not like that sound. Clever companies came out with a device some years back that mimicked the sound of the male mosquito and people started to use them instead of having bug spray put on all over themselves. Although this works quite well, it is also wise to cover up at night if staying outdoors for any length of time. On the exposed parts of the body, try putting on some repellant in liquid or cream form to avoid being plagued by these little blood suckers.
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