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As Saskatchewan residents wage a buggy battle against mosquitoes thanks to their high numbers this summer, a pharmacist is relying on classic, known methods to conquer the flying bloodsuckers.
Courtney Junop, a Saskatoon pharmacist and owner of the Medicine Shoppes in Evergreen and Royal University Hospital, said prevention is better than treatment when it comes to battling mosquitoes.
Her pharmacies have been selling more mosquito repellent this year.
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“We’re getting more people in for things like repellents,” Junop said, speaking to the popularity of those products this season. “Some are on back order and they’re harder to get.”
She recommended light-coloured clothing, keeping skin covered and wearing a good mosquito repellent — one that contains DEET — as some of the most effective ways to fend off the pesky insects.
She also noted that removing yourself from areas where mosquitoes are more present, like near open water, and avoiding the outdoors in the evening when mosquitoes are more active, can be helpful to keep from getting bitten.
Wearing perfumes or any scented body products and dark-coloured or bright clothing has the opposite effect, bringing mosquitoes near. Sometimes, human breath can even be a draw to mosquitoes, Junop said, due to the carbon dioxide humans expel.
“There are some things we can try and prevent and some things we can’t,” she said.
While a mosquito spray is perhaps the best way to prevent bites from popping up on your body, Junop said various products like mosquito traps and Thermacells can work as deterrents, protecting a larger area from the flying pests.
Citronella, too, can be effective, Junop said, explaining that its scent and oils help deter mosquitoes from being near those plants and smells.
“But if they do trickle in, it’s not going to stop them from biting,” Junop warned.
“We can try and deter them away from the area, but the mosquito repellents are what’s going to prevent them from biting us.”
For people who don’t like DEET, Junop said picaridin or icaridin are other popular ingredients in some newer mosquito repellents, providing more options for pest protection.
However, she noted that some mosquito bites to the body each summer can be somewhat inevitable. To treat the itchy bumps mosquitoes leave behind, Junop recommended oral antihistamines to reduce redness, itching and swelling, depending on the severity of the bite.
Topical products like corticosteroids — hydrocortisone being the most popular over-the-counter option — can reduce those same symptoms, as well as the severity and length of the bite and its irritation.
Benadryl creams, as well, can be used, though Junop said corticosteroids have typically proven more effective and are used more often.
“We have small children in the house, so there’s always bites that we’re trying to manage,” she shared, saying mosquito repellents are always on hand for the outdoors and steroid creams are quickly administered afterwards.
“Our hydrocortisone is at first reach in our medicine cabinets: Our oral antihistamines for nighttime, when those bites start to be really itchy and everyone’s bothered by them,” Junop explained.
Junop said her pharmacies are trained in integrative medicine and some natural antihistamines can be taken orally, as well, to contend with mosquito bites, but it won’t help keep the bugs at bay.
“It’s just if we’re having a lot of histamine response to bites, there’s things we can do to lessen that over time,” she said, adding that she tends to stick with the “tried and true treatments” because of their proven successes.
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