Protect Your Family from Summer Bugs and Diseases

Besides the annoyance of itching, burning bug bites, there are serious diseases carried by many of summer's pesky pests, including mosquitoes, chiggers, and ticks. My daughter came to me yesterday wanting to know what the bump on the center of her back was..she couldn't see it. But I could see quite clearly, the tick embedded in her skin.

She did the usual freaking out, and I followed good safety precautions, removed the tick, placed it in a Ziploc bag to take to the doctor if needed and we cleaned her bite. Hopefully all will be well with it; it was already less red this morning and it appears that she will recover just fine.

But it could have been much worse. With outdoor activities being high on the list in the summer and bugs being at their height, it's important to take safety precautions to prevent real injury and disease. West Nile Virus, Malaria, Dengu/Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Easter equine encephalitis, and Lyme disease are well known diseases that all of us want to avoid and prevent.

The single most important thing we can do is to thoroughly check for bites and insects after spending time outdoors. This may even mean a full body search at times. Evening bath time was always check for ticks and rs bites time at our house when our children were young.

Preventing Mosquito Infestation

To prevent mosquitoes infestation, look for and eliminate breeding sites such as stagnant water in low areas, drainage ditches, old tires, buckets, gutters, flower pots with standing water and any outdoor containers that hold water. Prevent standing water to prevent the breeding of larvae.

Spring and early summer is a good time to make sure window and door screens are in good shape, to clean debris out of gutters and birdbaths and to keep outside pet food containers clean. If you suspect that you have hatched some mosquito larvae, you can spray. Check for labeling to see what level of toxicity the product has and then follow safety precautions when using the spray.

You can choose to stay indoors during dawn and dusk hours when mosquitoes are most active. And if you choose to be outdoors for those fireworks display, then wear light colored and loose fitting shirts and and pants. Avoid using lots of perfume and fragranced hair products.

Insect Repellants

You can use effective insect repellents like Insect Shield which has been FDA approved for clothing that repels ticks, ants, flies, mosquitoes, chiggers and midges. We like the all natural Bug Bam! Bracelets at www.bugbam.com , which are endorsed by the National Camp Association. And the Don't Bite Me! Patch at www.dontbitemepatch.com

A natural bug repellent can be made by rubbing lemongrass between your palm to extract the oil then rub it on your skin. You can make another homemade version by mixing 5 drops of citronella or eucalyptus essential oil, 1/3 c. of witch hazel and 1/3 c. of apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle. The smell is rather intense, but it works!

If you feel you have to use a repellant container DEET or (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) , consider the following information from the CDC.(Center for Disease Control)

"DEET is an effective active ingredient found in many repellent products and in a variety of formulations. Based on a 2002 study (Fradin and Day, 2002.

A product containing 23.8% DEET provided an average of 5 hours of protection from mosquito bites.
A product containing 20% DEET provided almost 4 hours of protection
A product with 6.65% DEET provided almost 2 hours of protection
Products with 4.75% DEET were both able to provide roughly 1 and a half hour of protection. "

Additional online websites that offer great information about insect pests

If you or a loved one have been bitten by any kind of bug, mosquito or tick, it's important to monitor the person by breathing difficulties, the number one dangerous side effect of bug bites of any kind. Check out safety precautions at First Aid for Bug Bites.

And for a list of symptoms and how to treat them check out Medicine Net.

I particularly like the Bug Slide Show that shows in detail 29 of the most common summer bugs and provides information about them