Website maintenance is scheduled for Saturday, October 12, and Sunday, October 13. Short disruptions may occur during these days.

brand logo

Am Fam Physician. 2002;66(9):1770-1773

Because of the recent spread of West Nile virus in the United States, mosquitoes have gained front-page attention. Fradin and Day present data on the relative efficacy of various mosquito-repellent preparations.

The human toll related to mosquito-transmitted disease is small in the United States, but worldwide, more than 700 million persons per year are affected by disease from mosquito vectors, and 3 million die of malaria. The authors note that protective clothing and avoidance of mosquito-infested habitats are important common-sense measures, but that use of insect repellent may be necessary in many cases to avoid bites. They divided the tested solutions into two broad categories: synthetic chemicals and plant-derived oils. A total of 16 preparations, which are available for sale nationwide, were selected for testing.

The rightsholder did not grant rights to reproduce this item in electronic media. For the missing item, see the original print version of this publication.

Testing volunteers inserted a repellent-treated arm into a cage with 10 disease-free, unfed female mosquitoes. Each preparation was tested three times on each volunteer in a randomized fashion. Volunteers recorded how long it took until they received the first mosquito bite.

Topically applied solutions containing N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) provided the longest protection (see accompanying table). Soybean oil was the only other agent to provide bite protection for more than one hour. Many preparations provided little protection at all, including DEET-impregnated wrist bands.

The authors concluded that topically applied DEET provides the longest mosquito-repelling protection, with the best protection being obtained from higher concentrations of the compound.

Continue Reading


More in AFP

Copyright © 2002 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP.  See permissions for copyright questions and/or permission requests.