How to Bite Back

A rainy spring this year produced a bumper crop of mosquitoes, making for a very buggy summer. The good news: whether you are concerned about the West Nile virus or just want to enjoy the outdoors bite-free, there is a fresh crop of products out this year that promise to fight mosquitoes. There are candles, sandalwood sticks, zappers, and traps that emit carbon dioxide (part of what attracts mosquitoes to humans). A Korean cell-phone maker is selling a ring tone that it claims will repel blood-thirsty bugs. The bad news is that the effectiveness of some of these new offerings is questionable.

The only products that have been proved to help people avoid mosquito bites are insect-repellent sprays or creams containing 35% DEET (10% for kids). But a new report from the University of Manitoba in Canada warns of dangers associated with using DEET and sunscreen at the same time. Applying them together may increase the skin's absorption of DEET, leading to side effects ranging from skin rashes to changes in blood pressure. For the safest use, apply either sunscreen or DEET first, then wait half an hour before applying the other. Folks who want to avoid DEET should look for soybean oil based products, which according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine are effective but for shorter periods of time.

To protect the whole yard from mosquitoes there are two promising options. Sandalwood Mosquito Sticks from New Mountain can repel the bugs from a patio-size area. Like giant incense sticks, the all-natural repellents smolder for three to four hours.

Carbon dioxide traps like the Mosquito Magnet work by emitting a plume of carbon dioxide, heat, moisture and octenol. They do a great job of capturing mosquitoes, but there's a chance they could work too well and attract more mosquitoes than usual to your yard, some of which might bite you on their way to being trapped.