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If we add heat and humidity, the answer will always be the same: mosquitoes. So if climate change continues with its unstoppable advance, do not be surprised if we have to suffer these uncomfortable insects throughout the year, at least in some regions of Spain and the world.

In our country and in others located outside the tropical regions, mosquitoes are somewhat seasonal, they are only active during the warmer months, but scientists already warn of this other possibility due to the increase in temperatures.

Make yourself comfortable and prepare repellent or mosquito netting, especially if you are prone to your bites.

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Prevention.

Everything you need to know about mosquitoes and their repellents

  • Writing: SATURATED NURSE

Everything you need to know about mosquitoes and their repellents

Are there more mosquitoes because of climate change?

According to scientists, it is not so much that there are more, but that they arrive earlier. With global warming, springs and summers are getting longer every year, and winters shorter and not so cold. This causes the period of time in which mosquitoes are hibernating due to the cold, diapause, to be shorter and that is why they make their appearance in months in which they should not yet be flying.

Tiger mosquitoes in January

Last January, the entomologists of the citizen science project Mosquito Alert already warned of the presence of tiger mosquitoes in the surroundings of the city of Barcelona. Something unthinkable until now that was detected in the first weeks of this year 2023. A fact that is better understood if we see that, according to the AEMET, the month of December was the warmest since there are records.

In southern Spain, meanwhile, several studies have confirmed that some tiger mosquito populations have managed to adapt to the climate and no longer need to hibernate.

What risks does this have for humans?

Mosquitoes are major transmitters of diseases. They act as vectors, that is, they do not suffer from diseases but pass them from one living being to another: they bite an animal or an infected person, fly away carrying the virus in their mouth, and bite another healthy person whom they infect.

If the activity of these insects increases, and therefore also the time we live with them, the greater the risk of these diseases spreading.

What diseases can they transmit?

The bite of some mosquitoes can transmit, for example: malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, West Nile virus, Chikungunya... Diseases all of them really serious and that can seriously compromise our health.

What can we do to prevent its expansion?

Citizen participation to prevent the spread of mosquitoes is essential. The administration has its share of work in the prevention and control of its expansion, but it cannot reach the interior of our homes where too often the foci originate.

Everyday gestures such as leaving a dish of water under a pot, buckets of standing water or having standing water in a pet drinking fountain for several days in a row contribute to the proliferation of mosquitoes. That water should be changed twice a week to avoid this.

  • Saturated Nurse

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