Dengue Fever Showing up in Central Florida.

[ilovepcot]

Your Grand Dad gave you wonderful advice..works on the dogs & horse too !

DH is going to love this! He'll gladly spray my little dog till he's drenched and dripping with listerine and say he's only being "helpful" to the dog. Seriously, wonder how much is needed?

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I get eaten ALIVE here in Jersey, DD never gets bit.

I always bring OFF w/ us to Disney, but never had to use, we may have to this year though

 

[sorcerormickey]

They have been talking about this on our local news for a couple of days, and frankly it is freaking me out a little.

BUT, I must say, in the 6 years we have lived in Florida, I have barely ever been bitten by a mosquito - maybe a handful of times. The local dragonfly population (which is massive!) seems to keep them in check. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

 

[GeorgeG]

You are very lucky. It seems that the chemical makeup of some people just attract mosquitoes more than others. I am one of those people that mosquitoes adore.

I have lived in Florida for six years. I do not live near a pond or lake (our lake is five blocks away). I have my yard treated on a monthly basis and I have a screened lanai. I do not spend time outside in the evenings. I even mow the yard in the middle of the day, no matter how hot it is, to avoid bugs. They still find me.

Recently, a census worker came to my door. I stepped out on my front porch to talk to her and got bit. This was in the middle of the day. I don't have a lot of shrubs or anything surrounding my porch either.

My daughter is also a mosquito magnet. She went to the Magic Kingdom with a friend a few weeks ago. While waiting at the TTC in the middle of the day, she got bit on her feet three times. We are both the type that swell dramatically when we get a bite. She once had to go on an outing with her school to a park. By the time I picked her up, she had 27 bites. She ended up getting sick to her stomach from them. To make things worse, she is deathly allergic to DEET.

Of course, I also got bit three times this summer by those stupid yellow fly things. My leg swelled up with a knot the size of a baseball.

So, consider yourself lucky if you are one of those people who mosquitoes shun. I wish that were me!

I think that's very true about some people attracting mosquitos more than others. It's often said it's because those people are sweeter. I do know that many perfumes and aftershaves will attract mosquitos and I believe they are also attracted to the color blue. I remember New York being a lot worse for mosquitos than this part of Florida.

 

[Kimberly]

Had a friend in the Peace Corps that actually got this while in the Phillippines. This is nothing to joke with, as he almost died within just a few days of contracting it. Freaky to think that it's in central FL!

 

[Luvchefmic]

DH is going to love this! He'll gladly spray my little dog till he's drenched and dripping with listerine and say he's only being "helpful" to the dog. Seriously, wonder how much is needed?

I almost fell off the chair when I first read what I put in bold.... then I read the rest in a spray bottle (smallest one you can find usually in the dollar store so less of a "squirt") right to the back of the neck and ankles...I do the same to the horse (bigger spray bottle) Vet told me about this & YES it works about a 1/2 hour before they go out during mosquito time ..once a day is what I have been doing it keeps flies off them too

Hope I posted this before your DH put ole stinky dog in a tub of Listerine


WARNING: This is NOT to be a substitute for any heartworm prevention your dog is on..

 

[a1tinkfans]

Gee, I never even thought about my dog and mosquito bites.
My dh could have used that listerine spray yesterday...the poor man came home (was outside 15 minutes) and his ankles were swollen with really nasty bites.he always seems to get bit .thats when Benadryl comes in handy....from now on, we'll try the listerine spray!
Thanks for Info...always learning something new here on the DIS

 

[LuvOrlando]

Yikes! I saw a show about this on the Discovery Health channel and it totally freaked me out years ago. Being that I am one of those who always get bit first (even though I wear NO fragrance ever) the story has me a bit shaken. Now we have both West Nile and Dengue to worry about in the US, never mind Malaria in other areas... Mosquitoes are awful!

The worse part is for a while every time I got bit I got a giant red sore that the Dr said was "Necrotic tissue" that required antibiotics.. EWWW. Once he told me what it was I started to use Purel on the bites and the stuff really helps. If I slap it on as soon as I get a bite the skin never gets infected AND it stops the itching almost as good as Caladryl. If I need the Caladryl later it'll work fine but the Purel prevents infection.

DEET is my friend, but I'll try Listerine. If it works less toxic is better.

 

[ilovepcot]

I almost fell off the chair when I first read what I put in bold.... then I read the rest in a spray bottle (smallest one you can find usually in the dollar store so less of a "squirt") right to the back of the neck and ankles...

Gosh...that's all? Why, I'd have even sprayed poor old dog down till he was wet not knowing any better...not dripping, mind you, but definitely heavily damp.

Will see how this works for sure. We have a terrace high up in the trees and like to sit on it in the evenings. Haven't been able to in quite a while due to the mosquitoes. Keeping fingers crossed!