Mosquitos

Mosquito preparations

Malaria…to be concerned, or, not?

For my first trip to India, my only medical-related preparation was to get inoculated with a series of Hepatitis A & B shots. A great resource to assist you with decisions of what shots you might want to consider is the Center for Disease Control’s website.

Although Malaria medication was highly recommended as well, I chose to not take any. That decision was probably risky because if there’s a mosquito within 10 miles, it will find me.

The Fit For Travel website offers this India malaria map.

Malaria Map

Still, to this day, I have never taken malaria medication for my India travels even though I have been to “High Risk” areas and have bitten numerous times. To combat malaria, I take Artemisinin (sweet wormwood) which has been recommended by my Ayurvedic Doctors. Studies have shown that Artemisinin can reduce the transmission from the mosquito to the person as well as reduce the quantity of parasites in the blood of Malaria patients.

I am not a fan of DEET, a registered pesticide since 1957. But, after trying an exhaustive variety of organic and natural products, and being sorely disappointed, the toxic product has become my new eau de parfum. A minimum of 20 – 25% of DEET is recommended for optimal protection.

The best DEET product is ULTRATHON, which contains 34.34% deet. This product is offered in a spray with 19% deet, which is better for children, as levels above 30% are not recommended. I don’t want to report the pros of Ultrathon, as they all relate to how durable and long lasting the toxic substance is going to be on, and in, my body!

When I am not traveling in high risk areas, my favorite product is the clip-on mosquito repellent by OFF. I first used this product 5 years ago in Cambodia. Eric and I were dining outside with our friends one evening when armies of mosquitoes were out in droves. I gave a clip on to my girlfriend to clip onto her purse, and I did the same. We were astonished that none of the four of us was bitten even once.

During our last trip to India, our schedule got a little hectic, so I did not have time to retrieve my clip-on repellent from my room before the evening boat ride on the Ganga in Varanasi. Luckily, I had my travel packets of mosquito repellent and used them. When we got back to the hotel, to my surprise, I discovered on my body over a dozen bites. Big lesson learned…I had only applied the repellent to exposed areas on my body, and discovered the virulent, blood sucking vampires had attacked me through my thin yoga leggings. Now, if I had my clip on repellent, I am sure it would have kept the overachieving fiends at bay.

When in doubt, use Ultrathon and the Off Clip-on repellent for optimal protection.

You can find the Off! clip-on by clicking here, and the Ultrathon Insect Repellent here.