Scientists are predicting we’ll be inundated with insects this year – oh joy!
I found a tick on me last weekend; can I tell you how much I HATE ticks?! It was not a deer tick, just a brown dog tick, but creepy nonetheless. Another one was on the dog when she came in from outside. She wears a flea and tick collar, but I guess that doesn’t prevent those nasty buggers from hitching a free ride to another host…
The thing is, deer ticks, which cause Lyme disease, are not the only things we New Englanders have to worry about anymore. Brown dog ticks can transmit Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Rickettsia rickettsia) to dogs, and we used to think not, to humans, but, like many things in nature, that is changing! According to the University of Rhode Island’s Tick Encounter Resource Center, research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that a few years ago, in Arizona, the brown dog tick infected people – mostly children, with Rocky Mountain Fever. YIKES! More research is needed, but if that can happen in Arizona, and these little buggers live pretty much everywhere in the US… You get the picture. And don’t forget all the mosquitoes that carry diseases like Zika and West Nile. They are going to be plentiful this year as well.
So, naturally, I researched bug repellent again. Here’s what I found:
Consumer Reports 2017 testing results showed that Ben’s 30% DEET Tick & Insect Wilderness Formula kept Aedes mosquitoes (Zika virus) as well as Culex mosquitoes (night-time biters that can spread West Nile) and deer ticks (which can carry Lyme and other diseases) away for 7.5 hours. And, if you don’t want to be anywhere near DEET, Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, containing 30 percent lemon eucalyptus, stopped them for 7 hours. I’ll take the Repel please.
I looked at our local Wall Mart, Home Depot, etc. and could not find that particular Repel product, so I ordered mine through Amazon, here’s the link: Repel Lemon Eucalyptus. The EWG and the CDC both recommend the same ingredients as those included in the Consumer Report; Deet or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (PMD).
Just remember that if you are putting bug spray on young children, apply it to your own hands first, then rub them on the child. Avoid the child’s eyes and mouth. Use repellent sparingly around ears. Do not apply repellent to the child’s hands, because children put their hands in their mouths all the time and wipe their eyes as well.
NOTE:
There are a lot of bug repellents that say they have some form of Eucalyptus. Not all Eucalyptus oils are the same, however. The only one that actually repelled mosquitoes and ticks was the Repel listed above.
Best of Health,
Kathi
