You can run, but you can't hide. That's the message when it comes to mosquitoes and the West Nile Virus.
Perhaps it's the fact that the public health community felt caught unawares on SARS that we've already been inundated with public health messages about the impending (some say) West Nile Virus epidemic. According to one report, about the safest place to go is Newfoundland, the one province not yet touched by the virus.
Despite the fact that some of this year's millions of mosquitoes will carry a potentially lethal virus, the majority of these buzzing insects will be nothing more than their usual nuisance. Unfortunately the two varieties that carry West Nile Virus are your common household pests, the C. pipiens and the C. restuans. They become carriers by feeding on an infected bird and in Ontario, infected birds have been found as far north as Sudbury, Porcupine, North Bay and Thunder Bay.
The virus is spread to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito, but not all people who are infected get sick. You may get no symptoms, some mild flu-like symptoms, or you could become seriously ill with high fever, muscle weakness, intense headaches, a stiff neck, confusion and sudden sensitivity to light.
Research shows that about four out of five people who are bitten by an infected mosquito do not show any symptoms, but that won't stop every one of us from looking for symptoms and panicking and wondering whether the bug that bit us will cause encephalitis or meningitis, the ensuing brain swelling that kills about one in 100 of those who become seriously ill with the disease.
According to Informed, the newsletter published for doctors by Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), most West Nile Virus infections are asymptomatic. Symptoms, if they appear, come three to 15 days after a bite from an infected bug. In fewer than one per cent of those who are bitten, the virus may lead to encephalitis or meningitis; mortality in this group ranges from 10 to 15 per cent.
ICES recommends four ways to protect yourself: Reduce breeding grounds for the bugs by eliminating stagnant water sources; keep away from insect-infested habitats such as woods or anywhere outdoors from dusk to dawn when the bugs are most active; wear protective clothing (it should cover most of you and be light in colour); and use insect repellent.
The newsletter says DEET repellent products containing seven to 10 per cent DEET concentration provide protection for three hours, while repellents that are 22 to 30 per cent DEET provide up to six hours. Citronella products protect for less than one hour. Same for lavender oil products.
Suddenly mosquito netting is a decorating tool, verandahs are being renovated with screens and DEET has become as welcome as mustard at any backyard barbecue.
The pandemonium caused by this ugly pest has set in motion an industry that's determined to put a bite in our pocketbooks: Mosquito-netted baby cribs cost $240; sophisticated backyard bug zappers can exceed $800; mesh tents cost about $75; and bat houses -- to entice creatures most of us used to abhor -- can be had for $50.
My local plant store has already sold out of marigolds -- flowers supposedly good for keeping insects away. In one e-mail, I received household hint repellent ideas: Bounce fabric softener sheets, Vick's Vaporub or Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil cut half and half with alcohol -- all "guaranteed" skeeter-busters. The e-mail said don't eat bananas, but do take 100 mg of Vitaimin B1 daily -- something to do with what is emitted through your pores.
By the way, ICES warns that some people are just a nice bite: "How effective a repellant will be is mitigated by multiple factors," the newsletter reports. Among them: the species of insect, the density of insects in the immediate area, the wind speed, humidity and ambient temperature of the area and the biochemical attractiveness of a man or woman.
Yikes, something else to watch out for -- skeeters on the make.
