By Eugene Costello • Published: 17 Jul 2024 • 10:44 • 2 minutes read
Tucking into your blood: a female aedes aegypti in action Credit Flickr
Mosquitoes. Don’t you just hate them? But aside from the nasty bites and hives they cause, they are also responsible for an uptick in the number of cases of locally transmitted dengue fever. Experts even warn that yellow fever might become normal in Spain in the coming years.
There are certain tricks you can use to keep the blood suckers at bay, however. Some are sceptical but others swear by one home-created mosquito repellent.
A TikTok user based in South Florida called itscontrarymary has uploaded a video over the moon with the new-to-her hack.
She commented, “Let me tell you, I have bought every single commercial product you could for mosquito repellency because I get eaten alive, because I have delicious blood apparently.”
“Nothing works, and I’m in south Florida, and it’s really, really bad, especially around this time of year,” Mary added.
But nothing worked – until now.
Mary came across a TikTok video in a comment under an article in House Beautiful addressing mosquito repellents. And she is delighted with the results.
The key item is vanilla extract. She mixes it with water “and a pinch of cinnamon” to make the perfect anti-bloodsucker scent.
“Mixed it all together, sprayed it everywhere,” said Mary.
She thanked the original provider of the hack gushingly, saying, “Not only do I smell like a delicious snack, a delicious baked good out here in the summer heat – girl, it works! It works! I love you!”
The original article in House Beautiful last summer alerted the world to the use of vanilla extract as a mosquito repellent.
It works by blocking the human biological scent markers to which mosquitos are generally attracted. Mosquitos can pick up a human’s scent from 164 ft away, scarily. The vanilla extract spray masks the underlying human scent.
Pest-control specialist Shannon Harlow-Ellis of repellent company Mosquito Joe told House Beautiful “Sweat, body odour, CO2, and sometimes even your blood type can emit smells that attract these bloodsuckers.
“Vanilla extract, like some other plant derivatives, will mask the odour mosquitoes are searching for when looking for a blood meal,” says Harlow-Ellis.
Other plant derivatives include lemongrass, tea tree, eucalyptus and rosemary.
Crucially, she says, it must be pure vanilla extract – imitation vanilla includes sugary extracts that actually attract blood-suckers.
Harlow-Ellis points out that vanilla extract, when used by itself, only provides protection for about 30 to 45 minutes. But you can use it in conjunction with other DIY repellents to improve this, she says.
A simple formula she offers is this:
Mix in a small jar and shake. Apply the solution by hand before venturing outdoors.
And Dr Revée Barbour, a naturopathic doctor based in Sacramento, California, recommends using lemongrass essential oil as a natural mosquito and insect repellent.
Make your own repellent spray by adding 15 to 20 drops of therapeutic-grade lemongrass essential oil to 3 ounces of water and 1 tablespoon of vodka (or denatured alcohol) as a preservative, she says. One study showed that a lemongrass solution repelled mosquitos for up to two to three hours, Barbour added.
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Eugene Costello has been a journalist and editor for almost 30 years and has worked at the London Evening Standard, the Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail. He has written for a wide number of publications such as The Guardian, The Times and Sunday Times in addition to the above, and numerous magazines. He moved to Spain in 2020 and has no intention of going back.
If you want to smell nice you can totally use essential oils to do so. You will get bitten by mosquitoes, even if you get 30 minutes to 3 hours relief, maybe, using essential oils spray
If you want to keep skeeters at bay, then use at least 20% DEET instead!
Some ‘Environmental’ lobbyists seem to want people to get bitten, because they think it is some part of a Natural Process? Because there have been attempts to ban repellents containing DEET in concentrations above 10% ! https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2016-001673_EN.html In spite of the medical advice given by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to use 20% sprays.
I’d guess that these Environmentalists were a subset of those campaigning against spraying around the Torrevieja Lakes ? Because their efforts have resulted in the European Biocidal Products Regulations. Those Regulations control sales of DEET. The Regulations describe a ‘Biocide’ as any substance that repels, attracts or kills any living organism ! Plain Me, I describe a Biocide as something that kills! While DEET screws up the critters ability to home in on a Victim. DEET doesn’t Kill, just denies them a taste of your blood. Oh, and it will ‘melt’ your sunglasses too!
That ‘Living Organism’, ie mosquito, is responsible for 700,000 worldwide human deaths annually and makes another 246 million people sick each year ! Yup, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes mosquitoes the “world’s deadliest animal.” Not Sharks, not Snakes, not Crocodiles. Just that tiny insect weighing 2.5 milligrams, that can inject folks that get bitten with a whole parcel of vector-borne diseases.
As well as Malaria, these nowadays include Zika virus, West Nile Virus WNV, Chikungunya Virus, Dengue or Broken Bones Fever, Yellow fever, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) are just some examples of mosquito-borne diseases or “arboviruses” aka arthropod-borne viruses .
Mediterranean Resorts could be closed down by Mosquitos. Outbreaks will be insidious. Because they depend upon a presence of suitable vectoring mosquitoes, like Aedes Aegypti, already in Spain. Next the skeeter must first bite an already Infected Human or Animal before flying onward and passing that disease or diseases along with its next bite. The vast majority of the mosquito-borne diseases occur in Africa and southeast Asia and South America. Given the speed of modern international travel and the current refugee crisis those skeeters have more opportunity of encountering virulent infections before passing them on.
But you have some factors, apart from DEET, working in your favour too. First, they will bite those innocent folks/environmentalists wearing essential oils, before they consider you. Next, if you are bitten by an infected mosquito, according to the State of Connecticut Mosquito Management Programme you have a roughly one in 300 chance of developing the disease. Of course the Gambling folks out there will say that 300 : 1 is nonsense because of the number of bites unprotected folks suffer during a bad night or a long vacation!!
Of course there is a Permanent Answer. Way back in 2010 Janet Fang released a Paper entitled “Ecology: A world without mosquitoes.” Of course the ‘Environmental’ lobbyists nearly choked on their synthetic steak burgers. “Eradicating any organism would have serious consequences for ecosystems — wouldn’t it? ” “Not when it comes to mosquitoes” Fank retorted, with proofs, lots of proofs!!
Joe
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