Everything you need to know about mosquitoes and their repellents

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There are things that are very summer like the swimsuit, the sunscreen or the beach chair.

And then there are typical nuisances of this time such as mosquitoes, a classic that has been pecking at human beings for at least 46 million years.

In fact, they could bite any vertebrate animal, but

.

We cannot make our epidermis suddenly hard, but we can put an invisible layer of mosquito repellent on it that makes it unappetizing.

What mosquito repellent do I buy?

In order to answer that question, we must take into account two factors: what our destination is and the age of the person who is going to use it.

- If our destination is an area with a high risk of a mosquito bite transmitting us a disease, such as the Caribbean or Southeast Asia, we should choose

.

These repellents are very safe and most effective, but

.

- If our destination is Spain, the risk will be much lower, so between 12 and 24 months of age we will opt for a repellent that contains IR3535 at 10%.

.

From 3 years old and in adults we can use repellents with 40% citriodiol.

What if the child is less than 12 months old?

From 3 months of age, the only mosquito repellent that we can use is the one that contains citronella.

It is an oil that is extracted from this plant and whose smell mosquitoes do not like, so it is not as effective as other chemical repellents and its effect only lasts a few hours.

.

And the bracelets and adhesive patches for children?

They are a complement, but should never replace mosquito repellent spray applied to the skin of the body.

They can be a good solution if we are not sure if our child will remember to put on the mosquito repellent on that field trip.

I am pregnant, can I use repellents?

It depends on its composition.

, and during the second and third trimesters it is recommended that they contain low concentrations of it.

However, they can use repellents with IR3535 in their composition in any trimester.

What do I put first?

The repellent or the sunscreen?

The first thing to apply is sunscreen.

Then we will wait about 30 minutes for the skin to absorb it, and then we can apply the mosquito repellent.

against the sun's radiation.

What do we do with the tiger mosquito?

Also known as

, it is an invasive species that has been installed throughout our Mediterranean area since 2004.

Their bite can even go through clothing and is especially annoying, and although they are transmitters of various diseases, in Spain the probability of this happening is low at the moment.

As a curiosity,

.

Can I contract any disease from its bite?

In Spain the risk of becoming infected with the Zika virus or dengue from a mosquito bite is remote, but this is not the case in other countries of the world.

When a mosquito bites us, it injects its saliva to prevent our blood from coagulating while extracting it, it is at that moment when

or those previously mentioned.

And no, the blood of the previous victim is not injected into us.

Is it true that only female mosquitoes bite?

It's true.

And this happens because they need the protein from the blood of a vertebrate to be able to produce their eggs.

The amount they suck varies by species and size, but

.

For female mosquitoes it is a matter of survival of their species.

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